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BIBLE
HANDBOOK
WIIH THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
HALLEY’S BIBLE HANDBOOK
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This world-renowned Bible handbook is
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Do you need help understanding the Bible?
Halley’s Bible Handbook with the New
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and message accessible to you. Whether you’ve
never read the Bible before or have read it many
times, you’ll find insights here that can give you a
firm grasp of God’s Word. You’ll develop an
appreciation for the cultural, religious, and
geographic settings in which the story of the Bible
unfolds. You’ll see how its different themes fit
together in a remarkable way. And you’ll see the
heart of God and the person of Jesus Christ
revealed from Genesis to Revelation. Written for
both mind and heart, this completely revised,
updated, and expanded 25th edition of Halley’s
Bible Handbook retains Dr. Halley’s hi gh ly
personal style. It features:
• All-new maps, photographs, and illustrations
• Contemporary design
• Bible references in easy-to-read, best-selling
New International Version (NTV)
• Practical Bible reading programs
• Helpful tips for Bible study
• Fascinating archaeological information
• Easy-to-understand sections on how we got
the Bible and on church history
We want to hear from you. Please send your
comments about this book to us in care of the
address below. Thank you.
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Halley s Bible Handbook with the New International Version
Completely revised and expanded 25th edition of Halley s Bible
Handbook
ePub Format
Copyright © 2000 by Flalley’s Bible Handbook, Inc.
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for
the print edition of this title.
elSBN: 0-310-29607-2
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from
the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission
of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Other permissions are listed under Sources , which hereby become
part of this copyright page.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other —
except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior
permission of the publisher.
Revising editor/writer: Ed M. van der Maas
Archaeology and geography: Carl G. Rasmussen
Church history and Jewish history: Ruth F. van der Maas
Supervising editor: James E. Ruark
Interior design: Sherri L. Hoffman
Composition: Sherri L. Hoffman and Nancy Wilson
Maps: Jane Haradine
“The Bible is the most priceless possession
of the human race. ”
Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Epigraph
Foreword to the 25th Edition
The Heart of the Bible
Note to the Reader
The Heart of the Bible
The Habit of Bible Reading
Going to Church As an Act of Worship
Notable Sayings About the Bible
Bible Backgrounds
What the Bible Is
How the Bible Is Organized
What the Bible Is About
The Main Thought of Each Bible Book
The Setting of the Bible
1. Why the Setting Is Important
2. The Ancient Near East
3. The World Powers of Biblical Times
4. Roads and Travel in Biblical Times
5. The Promised Land: Israel
6. The Holy City: Jerusalem
Writing. Books, and the Bible
The Old Testament
In the Beginning
Genesis 1-11
The Time of the Patriarchs
Genesis 12-50
The Exodus from Egypt
Exodus-Deuteronomy
The Conquest and Settlement of Canaan
Joshua-Ruth
The Monarchy: David. Solomon, and the
Divided Kingdom
1 Samuel-2 Chronicles
The Babylonian Exile and the Return from
Exile
Ezra— Esther
Poetry and Wisdom
Job-Song of Songs
The Prophets
Isaiah-Malachi
The Messiah in the Old Testament
The 400 Years Between the Testaments
The New Testament
The Life of Jesus: An Overview
Was Jesus the Son of God?
What Was Jesus Like?
The 12 Disciples
The Four Gospels
A Harmony of the Gospels
Matthew-John
The Early Church
Acts- Jude
The Age to Come
Revelation
After the New Testament
A Brief History of the Western Church
A Brief History of the Holy Land and the
Jews Since the Time of Christ
Reading and Studying the Bible
Reading Through the Bible
Basic Bible Study Tools
Prayers
Su pplemental Materials
How We Got the Bible
1. How the Bible Books Came Together
2. How the Text of the Bible Was Preserved
3. Do We Have the “Original” Text of the
Bible?
4. English Translations of the Bible
5. The Apocrypha
Rediscovering the Biblical Past
The House of Herod
Distance Charts
l.Old Testament Cities
2. New Testament Cities (The Gospels )
3. New Testament Cities (Acts)
Jewish Calendar
Henry H. Halley — A Memoir
Sources
About the Publisher
Share Your Thoughts
Foreword
The 25th edition of Halley’s Bible Handbook
represents a continuation of my great-grandfather’s
ministry. Henry H. Halley dedicated his life to the
spreading of God’s Word. His desire was for
everyone to read, know, and love the Bible and to
believe and accept its God-inspired message.
It is my heartfelt desire that this 25th edition of
Halley’s Bible Handbook, now with Bible study
tips, updated archaeological information, and new
maps and pictures, continues to be a blessing to
every reader.
I would like to express my deep love and
appreciation for my grandmother, Julia Berry, who
nurtured and supported Halley’s Bible Handbook
for many years after the death of her father, Henry
Halley. Her early work on this 25th edition
provided us insight into her father’s ministry and
became our guide as we completed the revisions.
Many thanks to all those who have supported
and helped with this 25th edition, especially my
mother, Julie Schneeberger; my husband, Gary
Wicker; Dr. Stan Gundry, Ed and Ruth van der
Maas, and Carl Rasmussen. We have seen many
awesome examples of how the Lord has clearly
worked through this team of people and others to
complete this new edition of Halley’s Bible
Handbook.
As always, this Handbook is, in the words of
my great-grandfather, “dedicated to the proposition
that Every Christian should be a Constant and
Devoted Reader of the Bible; and that the primary
business of the Church and Ministry is to lead,
foster, and encourage their people in that habit.”
— Patricia Wicker
"he Heart of the Bible
NOTE TO THE READER
The following pages are the heart and soul of
Halley’s Bible Handbook.
Dr. Halley’s goal was not to write a book that
would help people know more about the Bible. Dr.
Halley’s passion was to get people and churches to
read the Bible in order that they might meet and
listen to the God of the Bible and come to love His
Son, Jesus Christ.
The rest of this book is of little lasting value if
Dr. Halley’s central convictions, stated so
passionately and forcefully in this section, are
ignored.
We urge you to take the time to read — and
periodically reread — this section.
'he Heart of the Bible
This book is built on two central convictions:
1 . The Bible is God’s Word.
2. Christ is the heart and center of the Bible.
I. The Bible Is God’s Word
Apart from any theory of inspiration, or any theory
of how the Bible books came to their present form,
or how much the text may have suffered in
transmission at the hands of editors and copyists;
apart from the question of how much is to be
interpreted literally and how much figuratively, or
what is historical and what may be poetical — if we
simply assume that the Bible is just what it appears
to be and study its 66 books to know their contents,
we will find a unity of thought that indicates that
one Mind inspired the writing and compilation of
the whole collection of books. We will find that it
bears the stamp of its Author and that it is in a
unique and distinctive sense the Word of God.
Many people hold the view that the Bible is a
collection of ancient stories about people’s efforts
to find God, a record of human experiences in their
reaching for God that led to a gradually improving
idea of God by building on the experiences of
preceding generations. This means, of course, that
the many, many passages in the Bible in which it is
said that God spoke are merely using a figure of
speech and that God did not really speak. Rather,
people put their ideas into religious language that
claimed to be the language of God, and in reality it
was only what they themselves imagined God
might say. This viewpoint reduces the Bible to the
level of other books, ft is made into a human book
pretending to be divine, rather than a divine book.
We reject this view utterly, and with
abhorrence! We believe that the Bible is not an
account of human efforts to find God, but rather an
account of God’s effort to reveal Himself to
humanity. It is God’s own record of His dealings
with people in His unfolding revelation of Himself
to the human race. The Bible is the revealed will
of the Creator of all of humanity, given to His
creatures by the Creator Himself, for instruction
and guidance along life’s paths.
There can be no question that the books of the
Bible were composed by human authors; we don’t
even know who some of these authors were. Nor
do we know just how God directed these authors to
write. But we believe and know that God did
direct them and that these books therefore must be
exactly what God wanted them to be.
There is a difference between the Bible and all
other books. Authors may pray for God’s help and
guidance, and God does help and guide them.
There are many good books in the world that leave
the unmistakable impression that God helped the
authors to write them. But even the most saintly
authors would hardly presume to claim for their
books that God wrote them.
Yet that is what the Bible claims for itself and
what the people of God through the millennia have
learned and understood and claimed. God Himself
superintended and directed the writing of the Bible
books in such a way that what was written was the
writing of God. The Bible is God’s Word in a
sense in which no other book in the world is God’s
Word.
Many statements in the Bible are expressed in
ancient thought forms and ancient language forms.
Today we would express these same ideas in a
different form and in modern language rather than
in the language of ancient times. But even so, the
Bible contains precisely the things God wants
mankind to know, in exactly the form in which He
wants us to know them. And to the end of time, the
“dear old Book” will remain the one and only
answer to humanity’s quest for God.
• Everyone should love the Bible.
• Everyone should be a regular reader of the
Bible.
• Everyone should strive to live by the Bible’s
teachings.
• The Bible should have the central place in the
life and work of every church and every
pulpit.
• The pulpit’s one business is the simple
teaching of God’s Word, expressing in the
language of today the truths that are expressed
in ancient thought and language forms in the
Bible.
2. Christ Is the Center and Heart
of the Bible
The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament
and the New Testament.
• The Old Testament is an account of a nation:
Israel.
• The New Testament is an account of a man:
Jesus, God’s Son.
The nation was founded and nurtured by God to
bring the Man into the world. In Jesus, God
Himself became a man to provide the means for the
redemption of mankind. Jesus also gives humanity
a concrete, definite, tangible idea of what kind of
person to think of when we think of God: God is
like Jesus. Jesus was God incarnate, God in human
form.
His appearance on the earth is the central event
of all history: the Old Testament sets the stage for
it; the New Testament describes it.
Jesus the Christ (the Messiah) lived the most
memorable, beautiful life ever known. He was
born of a virgin and led a sinless life. As a man,
Jesus was the kindest, tenderest, gentlest, most
patient, most sympathetic man who ever lived. He
loved people. He hated to see people in trouble.
He loved to forgive. He loved to help. He did
marvelous miracles to feed hungry people. For
relief of the suffering He forgot to take food for
Himself. Multitudes, weary, pain-ridden, and
heartsick, came to Him and found healing and
relief. It is said of Him, and of no other, that if all
the deeds of kindness that He did were written
down, the world could not contain the books.
That is the kind of man Jesus was.
That is the kind of person God is.
Then Jesus died on the cross to take away the
sin of the world, to become the Redeemer and
Savior of humanity.
He rose from the dead and is alive now — not
merely a historical character but a living Person.
This is the most important fact of history and the
most vital force in the world today.
The whole Bible is built around this beautiful
story of Christ and around His promise of life
eternal to those who accept Him. The Bible was
written only that people might believe, and
understand, and know, and love, and follow Christ.
Christ, the center and heart of the Bible, the
center and heart of history, is also the center and
heart of our lives. Our eternal destiny is in His
hand. Our acceptance or rejection of Him as our
Lord and Savior determines for each of us eternal
glory or eternal ruin — heaven or hell, one or the
other.
The most important decision anyone is ever
called on to make is to settle in one’s heart, once
for all, the matter of one’s attitude toward Christ.
On that depends everything.
It is a glorious thing to be a Christian, the most
exalted privilege of mankind. The Creator of all
things wants to have a personal relationship with
each and every one of us! To accept Christ as
Savior, Lord, and Master, and to strive sincerely
and devotedly to follow in the way of life He
taught, is certainly and by far the most reasonable
and most satisfactory way to live. It means peace,
peace of mind, contentment of heart, forgiveness,
happiness, hope, life abundant, life that shall never
end.
How can anyone be so blind, or so dumb, as to
go through life and face death without the Christian
hope? Apart from Christ, what is there, what can
there be, either for this world or the next, to make
life worthwhile? We all have to die. Why try to
laugh it off or try to deny it? It seems as if every
human being would want to welcome Christ with
open arms and consider it the proudest privilege of
his or her life to wear the Christian name.
In the final analysis, the most marvelous thing
in life is the consciousness, in the inner depths of
our soul, that we live for Christ. And though our
efforts be ever so feeble, we toil at our daily tasks
in hope of being able to have done something to lay
as an offering at His feet, in humble gratitude and
adoration, when we meet Him face to face.
The Habit of Bible Reading
Everybody should love the Bible. Everybody
should read the Bible.
Everybody.
It is God’s Word. It holds the solution of life. It
tells about the best Friend humanity ever had, the
noblest, kindest, truest Man who ever walked on
this earth.
It is the most beautiful story ever told. It is the
best guide to human conduct ever known. It gives a
meaning, a glow, a joy, a victory, a destiny, and a
glory to life elsewhere unknown.
There is nothing in history, or in literature, that
in any way compares with the simple record of the
Man of Galilee, who spent His days and nights
ministering to the suffering, teaching human
kindness, dying for human sin, rising to life that
shall never end, and promising eternal security and
eternal happiness to all who will come to Him.
Most people, in their serious moods, must have
some question in their minds as to how things are
going to stack up when the end comes. Laugh it off
and toss it aside as we may, that day will come.
And then what?
Well, it is the Bible that has the answer. And an
unmistakable answer it is. There is a God. There is
a heaven. There is a hell. There is a Savior. There
will be a day of judgment. Happy is the person
who in this life makes his or her peace with the
Christ of the Bible and gets ready for the final
takeoff
How can any thoughtful person keep his or her
heart from warming up to Christ and to the book
that tells about Him? Everybody ought to love the
Bible. Everybody. Everybody.
Yet the widespread neglect of the Bible by
churches and by church people is simply appalling.
Oh, we talk about the Bible, and defend the Bible,
and praise the Bible, and exalt the Bible. Yes
indeed! But many church members seldom ever
even look into a Bible — indeed, would be
ashamed to be seen reading the Bible. And an
alarming percentage of church leadership generally
seems to be making no serious effort to get people
to be Bible readers.
We are intelligent about everything else in the
world. Why not be intelligent about our religion?
We read newspapers, magazines, novels, and all
kinds of books, and listen to the radio and watch
television by the hour. Yet most of us do not even
know the names of the Bible books. Shame on us!
Worse still, the pulpit, which could easily remedy
the situation, seems often not to care and generally
does not emphasize personal Bible reading.
Individual, direct contact with God’s Word is
the principal means of Christian growth. All the
leaders in Christian history who displayed any
kind of spiritual power have been devoted readers
of the Bible.
The Bible is the book we live by. Bible
reading is the means by which we learn, and keep
fresh in our minds, the ideas that mold our lives.
Our lives are the product of our thoughts. To live
right, we need to think right. We must read the
Bible frequently and regularly so that God’s
thoughts may be frequently and regularly in our
minds; so that His thoughts may become our
thoughts; so that our ideas may become conformed
to God’s ideas; so that we may be transformed into
God’s own image and be made fit for eternal
companionship with our Creator.
We may, indeed, absorb Christian truth, in
some measure, by attending religious services,
listening to sermons, Bible lessons, and
testimonies, and by reading Christian literature.
But however good and helpful these things may
be, they give us God’s truth secondhand, diluted
through human channels and, to quite an extent,
obscured by human ideas and traditions.
Such things cannot possibly take the place of
reading for ourselves the Bible itself, and
grounding our faith and hope and life directly in
God’s Word, rather than in what people say about
God’s Word.
God’s Word is the weapon of the Spirit of God
for the redemption and perfection of the human
soul. It is not enough to listen to others talk and
teach and preach about the Bible. We need to keep
ourselves, every one of us, in direct touch with
God’s Word. It is the power of God in our hearts.
Bible reading is a basic Christian habit.
We do not mean that we should worship the
Bible as a fetish. But we do worship the God and
the Savior the Bible tells us about. And because
we love our God and our Savior, we love dearly
and devotedly the book that is from Him and about
Him.
Nor do we mean that the habit of Bible reading
is in itself a virtue, for it is possible to read the
Bible without applying its teachings to one’s own
life. And there are those who read the Bible and
yet are mean and crooked and un-Christian. But
they are the exception.
As a rule, Bible reading, if done in the right
spirit, is a habit out of which all Christian virtues
grow — the most effective character- forming power
known to mankind.
Bible reading is an act of religious devotion.
Our attitude toward the Bible is a pretty sure
indication of our attitude toward Christ. If we love
a person, we love to read about him or her, do we
not? If we could only bring ourselves to think of
our Bible reading as an act of devotion to Christ,
we might be inclined to treat the matter less lightly.
It is a glorious thing to be a Christian. The most
exalted privilege any mortal can have is to walk
through life hand in hand with Christ as Savior and
Guide. Or, to put it more correctly, to toddle along
at His side and, though always stumbling, never
letting go of His hand.
This personal relationship of each of us with
Christ is one of the intimate things of life, and we
do not talk much about it, probably because we
often believe that we are so pitifully unworthy to
wear His name. Why would the Creator of all
things care about me? But deep down in our hearts,
in our serious moods, we know that because of our
weakness, our worldliness, our frivolity, our
selfishness, and our sins, we need Him more than
we love anything else in this world. He is our
Father. And in our saner moments we know that we
should not willingly offend or hurt Him for
anything. Why would we intentionally hurt the One
who loves us and whom we love? We are
thoughtless.
The Bible is the book that tells about Christ
and His immeasurable love for us. Is it possible to
love Christ and at the same time be complacently
indifferent to His Word? Is it possible? Each one
of us has to make daily choices — to serve Him and
not the world. The Bible teaches us how!
The Bible is also the best devotional book.
Booklets and books of daily devotions, now
published in such abundance, may have their place.
But they are no substitute for the Bible. The Bible
is God’s own word, and no other book can take its
place. Every Christian, young and old, should be a
faithful reader of the Bible.
George Mueller, who, in his orphanages in
Bristol, England, did by prayer and trust one of the
most remarkable things in Christian history,
attributed his success, on the human side, to his
love for the Bible. He said:
I believe that the one chief reason that I have
been kept in happy useful service is that I
have been a lover of Holy Scripture. It has
been my habit to read the Bible through four
times a year; in a prayerful spirit, to apply it
to my heart, and practice what I find there. I
have been for sixty-nine years a happy man.
Helps to Bible Study
The Bible is a big book, in reality a library of
books from the far distant past. And we need all
the help we can get in trying to understand it. But
even so, it is surprising how largely the Bible is
self-interpretive when we know what is in it.
There are difficulties aplenty in the Bible, even
beyond the comprehension of the most erudite. But,
for all that, the main teachings of the Bible are
unmistakable, so plain that a child can understand
the heart of the Bible. (At the end of this book you
will find suggestions for books that are helpful in
studying the Bible [see Basic Bible Study Tools ].
But they should never take the place of the simple
reading of the Bible with an open heart and mind.)
Accept the Bible just as it is, for exactly what it
claims to be. Don’t worry about the theories of the
critics. The ingenious efforts of modern criticism
to undermine the historical reliability of the Bible
will pass; the Bible itself will still stand as the
light of the human race to the end of time. Pin your
faith to the Bible. It is God’s Word. It will never
let you down. For us human beings, it is the rock of
ages. Trust its teachings, and be happy forever.
Read the Bible with an open mind. Don’t try to
strait-jacket all its passages into the mold of a few
pet doctrines. And don’t read into its passages
ideas that are not there. But try to search out fairly
and honestly the main teachings and lessons of
each passage. Thus we will come to believe what
we ought to believe; for the Bible is abundantly
able to take care of itself if given a chance.
Read the Bible thoughtfully. In Bible reading, we
need to watch ourselves very closely, lest our
thoughts wander and our reading become
perfunctory and meaningless. We must determine
resolutely to keep our minds on what we are
reading, to do our best to understand what we can
and not to worry too much about what we don’t
understand, and to be on the lookout for lessons for
ourselves.
Keep a pencil at hand. It is a good thing, as we
read, to mark passages we like and to go now and
then through the pages and reread passages we
have marked. In time a well-marked Bible will
become very dear to us, as the day draws near for
us to meet the Author.
Habitual, systematic reading of the Bible is what
counts. Occasional or spasmodic reading does not
mean much. Unless we have some sort of system to
follow, and hold to it with resolute determination,
the chances are that we will not read the Bible
very much at all. Our inner life, like our body,
needs its daily food.
A certain time each day, whatever reading plan
we follow, should be set aside for it. Otherwise
we are likely to neglect or forget to read the Bible.
First thing in the morning is good if our work
routine permits it. Or in the evening, at the close of
the day’s work, we might find ourselves freer from
the strain of hurry. Or perhaps both morning and
evening. For some, a period in the middle of the
day may be more suitable.
The particular time of day does not greatly
matter. The important thing is that we choose a
time that best fits in with our daily round of work,
and that we try to stick with it and not be
discouraged if now and then our routine is broken
by things beyond our control.
On Sundays we might do a good part of our
Bible reading, since it is the Lord’s day, set aside
for the Lord’s work.
Memorize the names of the Bible books. Do this
first. The Bible is composed of 66 books. Each of
these books is about something. The starting point
for any sort of intelligent conception of the Bible
is, first of all, to know what those books are, the
order in which they are arranged, and, in a general
way, what each one is about. (See The Main
Thought of Each Bible Book. )
Memorize favorite verses. Thoroughly memorize
them and repeat them often to yourself — sometimes
when you are alone, or in the night to help put
yourself to sleep on the everlasting arms. These
are the verses that we live on.
To run God’s thoughts through our mind often
will make our mind grow to become more like
God’s mind; and as our mind grows more like
God’s mind, our whole life will be transformed
into His image. It is one of the very best spiritual
helps we can have.
Plans of Bible Reading
There are many different plans for Bible reading.
Several plans are suggested later in this book (see
Reading Through the Bible ). One plan will appeal
to one person, another plan to another person. The
same person may, at different times, like different
plans. The particular plan does not greatly matter.
The essential thing is that we read the Bible with
some degree of regularity.
Our plan of reading should cover the whole
Bible with reasonable frequency. It is all God’s
Word, all one story, a literary structure of profound
and marvelous unity, centered around Christ. Christ
is the heart and climax of the Bible. The whole
Bible may very properly be called the story of
Christ. The Old Testament paves the way for His
coming. The four Gospels tell the story of His
earthly life. The New Testament letters explain His
teachings. And Revelation shows us His triumph.
A well-balanced plan of Bible reading, we think,
might be something like this: for every time we
read the Bible through, let us read the New
Testament an extra time or two, with frequent
rereading of favorite chapters in both Testaments.
Later in this book you will find several Bible
reading plans (see Reading Through the Bible ! as
well as a section that explains the kinds of Bible
study tools available to help you understand what
you read, such as concordances, study Bibles,
Bible dictionaries, and commentaries, and what
each is used for (see Basic Bible Study Tools h
Going to Church As an Act of
Worship
“All Christian people ought to go to church each
and every week, unless hindered by sickness, or
necessary work, or some other necessity.”
In a consumer society such as ours, the first
reaction is, Why? What do I get out of church?
That question misses the point.
We are not the purpose of the church — God is.
Going to church should be an act of worship.
Every Sunday belongs to Christ. If all Christians
were to attend church every Sunday, our churches
would overflow. It would mean power for the
church. It would be a witness to the community —
people who worship their Savior as a matter of
love rather than convenience. The purpose of the
church is to hold Christ before the people. The
church was founded by Christ. Christ is the heart of
the church, and its Lord. The church exists to bear
witness to Christ. Christ Himself, not the church, is
the transforming power in people’s lives. The
mission of the church is to exalt Christ, so that He
Himself may do His own blessed work in the
hearts of people.
That method will never change. The invention
of printing, which made Bibles and Christian
literature cheap and abundant so that people may
read for themselves about Christ, and the coming
of radio and television, which allow us to sit at
home and listen to or watch sermons and church
services — these will never do away with the need
for the church. It is God’s plan that His people, in
every community, throughout the whole world, at
this appointed time, meet together, in this public
way, to thus publicly honor Christ.
However, all too often individuals use the
church as a spiritual filling station. We run on
empty all week and then expect the church to make
up for what we do not do — spend time during the
week reading and reflecting on God’s Word.
If we neglect the habit of reading the Bible, we
go to church spiritually starved. We will look to
the church to fill our empty souls. And we will be
disappointed, because the church cannot, in one or
two hours on Sunday morning, fill the void that we
create by neglecting the Word of God.
Come to church prepared. Read your Bible
beforehand. You will be blessed, and Christ will
be exalted!
Notable Sayings About the
Bible
Billy Graham: We have in our generation people
who question if the Bible is the Word of God.
From beginning to end, the Bible is God’s Word,
inspired by the Holy Spirit. When I turn to the
Bible, I know that I am reading truth. And I turn to
it every day.-
George Mueller of Bristol: The vigor of our
spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the
place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts. I
solemnly state this from the experience of fifty-four
years. ... I have read the Bible through one
hundred times, and always with increasing delight.
Each time it seems like a new book to me. Great
has been the blessing from consecutive, diligent,
daily study. I look upon it as a lost day when I have
not had a good time over the Word of God.
D. L. Moody: I prayed for faith, and thought that
some day faith would come down and strike me
like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One
day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, “Now
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word
of God.” I had closed my Bible, and prayed for
faith. I now opened my Bible, and began to study,
and faith has been growing ever since.
Abraham Lincoln: I believe the Bible is the best
gift God has ever given to man. All the good from
the Savior of the world is communicated to us
through this book.
W. E. Gladstone: I have known ninety-five of the
world’s great men in my time, and of these eighty-
seven were followers of the Bible. The Bible is
stamped with a specialty of origin, and an
immeasurable distance separates it from all
competitors.
George Washington: It is impossible to rightly
govern the world without God and the Bible.
Daniel Webster: If there is anything in my thoughts
or style to commend, the credit is due to my
parents for instilling in me an early love of the
Scriptures. If we abide by the principles taught in
the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to
prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its
instructions and authority, no man can tell how
sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury
all our glory in profound obscurity.
Thomas Carlyle: The Bible is the truest utterance
that ever came by alphabetic letters from the soul
of man, through which, as through a window
divinely opened, all men can look into the stillness
of eternity, and discern in glimpses their far-
distant, long- forgotten home.
John Ruskin: Whatever merit there is in anything
that I have written is simply due to the fact that
when I was a child my mother daily read me a part
of the Bible and daily made me learn a part of it by
heart.
Charles A. Dana: The grand old Book still stands;
and this old earth, the more its leaves are turned
and pondered, the more it will sustain and
illustrate the pages of the Sacred Word.
Thomas Huxley: The Bible has been the Magna
Charta of the poor and oppressed. The human race
is not in a position to dispense with it.
Patrick Henry: The Bible is worth all other books
which have ever been printed.
U. S. Grant: The Bible is the anchor of our
liberties.
Horace Greeley: It is impossible to enslave
mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The
principles of the Bible are the groundwork of
human freedom.
Andrew Jackson: That book, sir, is the rock on
which our republic rests.
Robert E, Lee: In all my perplexities and
distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me
light and strength.
Lord Tennyson: Bible reading is an education in
itself.
John Quincy Adams: So great is my veneration
for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to
read it the more confident will be my hope that
they will prove useful citizens of their country and
respectable members of society. I have for many
years made it a practice to read through the Bible
once every year.
Immanuel Kant: The existence of the Bible, as a
book for the people, is the greatest benefit which
the human race has ever experienced. Every
attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity.
Charles Dickens: The New Testament is the very
best book that ever was or ever will be known in
the world.
Sir William Herschel: All human discoveries
seem to be made only for the purpose of
confirming more and more strongly the truths
contained in the Sacred Scriptures.
Sir Isaac Newton: There are more sure marks of
authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.
Goethe: Let mental culture go on advancing, let
the natural sciences progress in ever greater extent
and depth, and the human mind widen itself as
much as it desires; beyond the elevation and moral
culture of Christianity, as it shines forth in the
gospels, it will not go.
Bible Backgrounds
What the Bible Is
How the Bible Is Organized
What the Bible Is About
The Main Thought of Each Bible Book
The Setting of the Bible
Writing, Books, and the Bible
What the Bible Is
The Bible is a collection of 66 “books” that were
written over a period of more than 1,500 years. In
a typical printed Bible, the longest book (Psalms)
takes up more than 100 pages, the shortest (2 John)
less than a page.
More than 40 different people wrote the
various books of the Bible. Some of them were
rich, some were poor. Among them were kings,
poets, prophets, musicians, philosophers, farmers,
teachers, a priest, a statesman, a sheepherder, a tax
collector, a physician, and a couple of fishermen.
They wrote in palaces and in prisons, in great
cities and in the wilderness, in times of terrible
war and in times of peace and prosperity. They
wrote stories, poems, histories, letters, proverbs,
and prophecies.
The Bible is not a textbook or a book of
abstract theology, to be analyzed, discussed, and
understood only by highly educated theologians
and experts. It is a book about real people and
about the God who is real.
The Bible is the inspired Word of God.
Theologians and scholars have argued endlessly
about the question how a book written by so many
authors over so many centuries can possibly be
inspired by God. But it is like sitting down at
dinner and arguing about the recipe instead of
tasting the food, enjoying it, and being nourished
by it.
As “the proof of the pudding is in the eating,”
so is the proof of the Bible in the reading — with
open mind and open heart. Such a reading will
show that the Bible is a divinely inspired,
interwoven message from God (compare John
7 : 17 ).
Because it was written so long ago, there are
things that we, in the 21st century, may find
difficult to understand. But our heart and spirit can
grasp what God’s heart and His Spirit tell us: that
we are beloved by Him, now and forever.
How the Bible Is Organized
At first glance, the Bible is a collection of longer
and shorter writings without any apparent
organization except for the main division into two
parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Old
New
Testament
Testament
(39 books)
(27 books)
t
Psalms
The Old Testament takes up about three-fourths
of the Bible, the New Testament about one-fourth.
The book of Psalms is approximately in the middle
of the Bible.
The Two Testaments
The Old Testament was written before the time of
Christ. It was written mostly in Hebrew, the
language of the Jewish people, and the Old
Testament continues to be the Bible of the Jewish
people. In the very early days of the church, during
the first decades after Jesus’ death and
resurrection, the Hebrew Bible was the only Bible
Christians had. It was not until later, when the New
Testament came into existence, that the Hebrew
Bible was called “Old Testament.” The word
“testament” here means “covenant” (a solemn
agreement or contract that establishes a formal
relationship with mutual obligations). The Hebrew
Bible speaks of the covenant God made with
Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish people. The
New Testament is about the new covenant that God
made with all people through Jesus Christ.
Thus, the Old Testament looks forward to the
coming of Jesus, the Messiah (or Christ), who will
save us from our sins and establish God’s
kingdom, founded on justice and mercy. The New
Testament tells the story of Jesus and contains
writings by His early followers.
Three Groups of Books in Each
Testament
Each Testament
• Begins with a group of historical books and
• Ends with prophetic books (the New
Testament has only one predominantly
prophetic book, Revelation)
Between the historical and prophetic books are
• Poetic books (Old Testament) and
• Letters or epistles (New Testament)
The Old Testament Books
1 . The Historical Books
The Old Testament has 17 historical books,
arranged in chronological order. The Jewish
people called (and call) the first five historical
books the Torah (Hebrew for “law,” since these
books contain the laws God gave to Moses). These
five books are also called the Pentateuch (Greek
for “five books”). The history covered in these
books can be divided into six periods (see also the
next section, “What the Bible Is About” ).
2. The Poetic Books
Between the historical books and the prophetic
books of the Old Testament are five poetic books
that contain some of the most beautiful poetry ever
written. Especially the book of Psalms, which
expresses the full range of human emotions from
depression to jubilant trust in God, has been a
source of comfort and inspiration for Jews and
Christians for three millennia.
3. The Prophetic Books
The Old Testament contains 17 prophetic books.
The first five of these books are called the Major
Prophets because they are much longer than the
other 12, which are called the Minor Prophets.
(Lamentations is a short book that is included with
the Major Prophets because it was written by the
prophet Jeremiah, who also wrote the book of
Jeremiah, the second book of the Major Prophets.)
The New Testament Books
1 . The Historical Books
Between the end of the Old Testament and the
beginning of the New Testament is a period of
about 400 years. We know quite a bit about those
“silent years” from other books that are not part of
the Old Testament or New Testament (see The 400
Years Between The Testaments ).
The New Testament contains five historical
books: the four Gospels, which describe the life of
Christ, and the book of Acts, which tells the story
of the early church, mostly through the work of the
apostle Paul.
2. The Letters, or Epistles
The New Testament contains 21 letters, or epistles.
The first 13 of these were written by the apostle
Paul; they are arranged by length, from the longest
(Romans) to the shortest (Philemon). Others were
written by the apostle John (three letters), Peter
(two letters), and James and Jude (one letter each);
there is uncertainty as to who wrote the letter to the
Hebrews.
All the letters were written during the early
decades of the church.
3. The Prophetic Book
The New Testament has only one prophetic book:
Revelation. (The Greek word for revelation is
apokalupsis, meaning an unveiling or uncovering.
For this reason, the book of Revelation is also
called the Apocalypse.)
OLD TESTAMENT
Historical Books
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Poetic Books
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs
Prophetic Books
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
NEW TESTAMENT
Historical Books
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Letters
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Prophetic Books
Revelation
What the Bible Is About
THE OLD TESTAMENT
1 In The Beginning
Creation, Adam and Eve, Fall, Cain
and Abel, Noah and the Flood, Babel
The Story
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth.” The first two chapters of the Bible describe
how God created all things. The last thing He
created was mankind, whom God created “male
and female ” — Adam and Eve. Creation was good
and harmonious.
But in the third chapter this harmony is destroyed.
Adam and Eve are deceived by the serpent (Satan)
and choose to disobey God. They do the one thing
He had told them not to do: they eat from a
forbidden tree because they want to be like God. It
is a small act — with cosmic consequences.
Their disobedience (“the Fall”) brings
disharmony and death into the world and the
universe. Humanity is now separated, not only
from one another and from creation, but from God.
All history, and each life, now ends in death.
The Fall is followed by a number of disastrous
things:
• Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden
of Eden.
• Cain and Abel: The sons of Adam and Eve.
Cain kills Abel.
• Noah and the Flood : Things get so bad that
God decides to destroy the human race in a
flood. Only Noah and his family and
representative pairs of the animals survive in
the ark.
• The Tower of Babel: The people of the
world want to build a city with a “tower that
reaches to the heavens.” Like Adam and Eve,
they want to be like God. But God intervenes
and confuses the language of the world. From
there, the Lord scatters them over the face of
the whole earth. Ever since, people have
spoken different languages.
The Story Behind the Story
The first three chapters of Genesis set the
stage for all that happens in the rest of the
Bible. Adam and Eve’s sin separated
humanity from God. As a result we also lost
our God-given harmony within ourselves,
with each other, and with the rest of creation.
But God, who loves the human beings He
created, promises that He will undo what
Adam and Eve did in disobedience. He will
restore harmony between humanity and
Himself, between people, and in all of
creation. God promises that a descendant of
Adam and Eve will be the key — He will
bring salvation. He will set things right
between God and his creation.
Throughout the rest of the Bible, this is the
story behind the story: God is at work setting
things right. (In the New Testament we see
that He has already accomplished this
through Jesus.) “Regular” history — the kind
found in history books — may seem chaotic,
but the story behind the story tells us that all
of history is moving to the point where God’s
plan of salvation and redemption for the
universe will be complete, when, as the last
book in the Bible says,
The dwelling of God is with men, and he will
live with them. They will be his people, and
God himself will be with them and be their
God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or
crying or pain, for the old order of things
has passed away (Revelation 2 1:3-4).
2 The Time of the Patriarchs
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph
The Story
God tells Abraham to go from Ur of the
Chaldeans to Canaan. There they have a son,
Isaac, even though Sarah, Abraham’s wife, is well
beyond child-bearing age.
Isaac, his son Jacob, and Jacob’s 12 sons are
known as the patriarchs of Israel, since the whole
nation — the 12 tribes — descended from them.
(“Israel” is the name God gave Jacob.)
One of Jacob’s sons, Joseph, ends up in Egypt,
where he becomes second-in-command to the
Pharaoh and saves the country from famine.
Joseph’s whole family then comes down to Egypt,
where they live for some 400 years.
The Story Behind the Story
With God’s choice of Abraham begins the
preparation of a nation through which the
promised Redeemer will come. God
promises Abraham that he will have
innumerable descendants, who will possess
the land of Canaan (Palestine) and through
whom God will bless the entire world. These
promises are part of the covenant (solemn
agreement) that God makes with Abraham,
These promises are fulfilled slowly but surely
— even though Abraham sees very little of
this fulfillment himself
Through Abraham’s great-grandson Joseph,
God takes Abraham’s descendants to Egypt.
There they end up suffering oppression and
slavery. But their relative isolation also
allows the nation to grow without the danger
of being absorbed into the various Canaanite
nations — which would undoubtedly have
happened had they stayed in Canaan.
3 The Exodus from Egy pt
Moses, Aaron, Red Sea, Mount Sinai
The Story
After 400 years, the Israelites have become so
numerous that the Pharaoh gets worried that they
may take over the country. He puts them to slave
labor on his building projects.
Moses is an Israelite who was raised at the court
by Pharaoh’s daughter. God calls him to deliver the
Israelites from their slavery and to take them back
to Canaan, the land God had promised to their
forefather Abraham Aaron, Moses’ brother, goes
with him to Pharaoh.
Pharaoh refuses to let the people go. God
encourages him to change his mind by sending 10
horrible plagues. The last of the plagues allows the
angel of death to kill all firstborn children, but God
protects the Israelites by instructing them to put
some lamb’s blood on their doorposts so the angel
of death will pass over them. (This is the beginning
of the Passover.) After this, Pharaoh agrees to let
the people go. He later changes his mind and
pursues the Israelites, but his entire army drowns
in the Red Sea, after God creates a path and
allows only the Israelites to cross.
At Mount Sinai, God gives Israel His laws.
Because they have no faith that God will help them
conquer the land, the Israelites end up spending 40
years in the wilderness.
The Story Behind the Story
God prepares Moses to lead the Israelites out
of Egypt by using the Egyptian court to give
Moses the education he would need for the
enormous task ahead.
As God had done with Abraham, He now
makes a covenant with the people of Israel
at Mount Sinai . As part of this covenant God
gives this group of slaves who had never
learned to function as a nation a body of laws
to govern their daily lives once they settle in
the Promised Land.
Part of this covenant is the warning that
disobedience will bring disaster, while
obedience to the covenant by keeping God’s
laws will bring blessing. Their survival and
success depend entirely on whether or not
they obey God. They learn the truth of this the
hard way when their disobedience and lack of
faith in the wilderness lead to a 40-year
period of wandering before they finally are
allowed to enter the Promised Land.
4 The Conquest and Settlement
of Canaan
Joshua, the Judges (Deborah, Gideon,
Samson)
The Story
Moses dies and Joshua takes over. He leads the
Israelites into the Promised Land across the Jordan
near Jericho. They conquer part of the land, and
each of the 12 tribes is given a piece of it.
But there is no central authority, and for several
centuries the various tribes disobey and leave
God. God then allows a foreign army to punish
them, but when they cry out to God, He sends them
a leader (called a Judge ) to defeat the enemy. But
soon the whole cycle starts over again. Among the
Judges are Gideon and Samson.
The Story Behind the Story
God’s promise that Abraham’s descendants
will possess the land now begins to be
fulfilled. At Ai they again receive a
demonstration of the abject failure that is the
result of ignoring God and His instructions.
As the land is conquered and settled, the
seeds for future problems are sown. The
Israelites fail to take all of the land, as God
had commanded, and the remaining
Canaanites will be a constant source of
seduction away from God. This becomes very
clear in the period of the Judges, when the
various tribes are again and again in danger
of completely forgetting the God who brought
them out of Egypt.
5 The Monarchy and the Divided
Kingdom
Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, two
kingdoms: Israel and Judah
The Story
Finally the Israelites ask for a king. Samuel , the
last Judge, first makes Saul king. Saul starts out
well, but ends up committing suicide in battle.
Then David becomes king and unites all the tribes
into the kingdom of Israel, with Jerusalem as its
capital. (This is around 1000 B.c.)
David’s son Solomon succeeds him. He builds the
temple in Jerusalem and is spectacularly wealthy.
But after Solomon’s death, the northern 10 tribes
secede and establish their own kingdom. This
northern kingdom is now called “Israel”; the
southern kingdom (with only two tribes, Judah
and Benjamin) is called “Judah.” Jerusalem and
the temple are in Judah.
The northern kingdom has a series of bad kings. It
is finally destroyed in 722 B.c, by the Assyrians.
The people are taken away and disappear forever
in history.
The southern kingdom has some good kings and
some bad kings. It is finally captured by the
Babylonians, who destroy Jerusalem and the
temple in 586 b.c. The people are taken to
Babylonia.
The Story Behind the Story
The worship of God should have united the
12 tribes. Instead, the Israelites decide that
they want a king so that they, too, can become
a nation like the others around them. David
establishes the kingdom that unites all the
tribes. God now makes a covenant with
David that from his dynasty will come the
Great King who will personify God’s ideal
king. This King will rule forever with justice
and mercy. This covenant with David is the
next step in the unfolding of God’s plan.
Sadly, the kingdom ends in failure. First it is
divided into two smaller kingdoms. The
northern kingdom rejected God from the very
beginning and was overrun, and its people
were deported after a couple of centuries.
The southern kingdom — in spite of the fact
that Jerusalem and the temple of God were
there, and in spite of a number of God-fearing
kings — also ended up rejecting God, which
led to their deportation by the Babylonians.
But the family lineage of David continued,
and God would keep the promise He made to
David.
6 The Babylonian Exile and the
Return from Exile
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
The Story
While the Jews (the people from Judah) are in
Babylonia, the Babylonians are defeated by the
Persians. The Persians allow the Jews to return to
Jerusalem. The temple and the walls are rebuilt
under Ezra and Nehemiah. (The return takes place
in stages over a period of about a century.)
The story of Esther is a vignette from this period;
Esther’s courage may have influenced the Persian
king to support the return of the Jews to Jerusalem.
[The five books of poetry and wisdom (Job
through Song of Songs) and the 17 books of the
prophets (Isaiah through Malachi) were written
largely during the periods of the kingdom and of
the exile and return (periods 5 and 6).]
The Story Behind the Story
The Babylonian exile brought profound
changes in the way the Jewish people saw
themselves and their relationship with God.
No longer could they blithely claim that God
would never allow His temple to be
destroyed or His people to be conquered by
other nations. Much soul-searching took
place: Had God deserted His people? Had
God canceled His covenant with Abraham,
with His people, and with David because they
had not fulfilled their obligations under the
covenant?
Yet the prophets had not only predicted the
judgment of God on His people and the fall of
Jerusalem — they had also said that, in spite of
appearances, God had not abandoned His
people. The terrible experience of the Exile
brought about a focus on the promise that God
would yet accomplish the ultimate fulfillment
of all His promises by sending the Messiah.
The 400 Years Between the
Testaments
The Story
Between the end of the Old Testament and the
beginning of the New Testament there is a span of
about 400 years. During this time many changes
take place.
• The Romans rather than the Persians are now
the great world power.
• In the Babylonian exile, the synagogue
becomes very important as the place where
people come together for worship and the
study of the Hebrew Bible (our Old
Testament).
• For about 100 of the 400 years between the
testaments, the Jews are independent again
under the Maccabees.
• Two groups that begin during this 400-year
period are the Sadducees and the Pharisees .
The teachings of Jesus are closest to those of
the Pharisees, but the Pharisees end up being
His staunchest opponents.
The group that is in charge of everyday
matters in Palestine, including religious
matters, is the Sanhedrin, which consists of
Pharisees, Sadducees, teachers of the Law,
and the high priest.
The central section of Palestine is Samaria.
The Samaritans are partially related to the
Jews and worship God, but on Mount Gerizim
rather than in Jerusalem. The Jews avoid them
at all costs.
The Story Behind the Story
After the Babylonian exile, the Jews return to
Jerusalem. Through four centuries of conflict,
God prepares the world around Israel for the
coming of the promised Redeemer. The Greek
empires give the then-known world a common
language, Greek, while later the Roman
Empire provides a stable government and
worldwide peace (the Pax Romana ) as well
as a remarkable road system. All of this
allows the rapid spread of the Good News of
Jesus — of God come to earth to reconcile the
world with Himself.
THE NEW TESTAMENT
7 The Life of Jesus
Jesus, John the Baptist, Crucifixion,
Resurrection
The Story
The Old Testament, from Abraham to Malachi,
covers about 2000 years of history — the New
Testament only about 70 (and the first 25-30 of
those only very briefly).
The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John) all tell the story of Jesus’ life, but each with
a somewhat different emphasis.
Jesus’ virgin birth to Mary (ca. 4 B.c. — see
sidebar How Could Jesus Have Been Born Five or
Six Years “Before Christ”? in the chapter on The
Life of Jesus) is told mostly in Luke. Only one
story is recorded about His youth — His visit to the
temple in Jerusalem when He was 12. We also
know that He took up the trade of His earthly
father, Joseph; He became a carpenter.
Then, when Jesus is about 30, a prophet appears in
the wilderness near the Jordan River, John the
Baptist, who tells the people to repent and to show
their repentance by being baptized. He also
announces that someone greater than he will come
who will “baptize with the Holy Spirit and with
fire.” Jesus insists on also being baptized by John.
After this, Jesus begins His own ministry of
preaching that the kingdom of God is near. He
heals many people and preaches in the synagogues.
And He claims to be the fulfillment of what the
prophets, including John the Baptist, had promised
for centuries: the “anointed one” of God (. Messiah
in Hebrew, Christ in Greek), who would establish
God’s kingdom on earth.
The problem is that the leaders of the people (the
Pharisees, Sadducees, and the teachers of the Law)
see the miracles Jesus performs but cannot believe
that Jesus really is who He claims He is: the Son
of God. They think Jesus’ claim is blasphemy, and
therefore, they say, He must be able to do miracles
because He is in league with the devil. But many
people believe in Jesus.
Jesus chooses 12 disciples (who will later be
called apostles) to travel with Him and to be taught
by Him. Peter (also called Simon Peter) is the
leader among the Twelve. Peter, John, and James,
John’s brother, form the inner circle among the
disciples.
Jesus keeps teaching and doing miracles, but as it
becomes clear that He is not going to establish
God’s kingdom by throwing the Romans out of the
country, many people quit following Him. They do
not understand (and even the disciples don’t
understand) that Jesus’ mission is not political but
to set things right between God and humanity — that
God’s kingdom must first be established in the
hearts of those who follow Jesus.
In the end, the leaders decide to kill Jesus, but they
want to do it in a way that will not upset the people
and that also gives the appearance of being legal.
(The events of the last week of Jesus’ life are
described in detail in all four Gospels.) One of the
disciples, Judas, betrays Jesus to the leaders.
After trying in vain to find witnesses who can
provide grounds for a death sentence, the leaders
finally condemn Jesus to death because He claims
to be God’s Son — which He had been saying all
along. He is then crucified by the Romans.
But after three days the grave is empty — Jesus has
risen from the dead! He appears to His disciples
for a period of 40 days and then ascends to heaven.
The Story Behind the Story
Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises to
Abraham and David. His death and
resurrection will reunite God with His
people. He is the one through whom the
whole world will be blessed. He is the King
from David’s house. But His kingdom is not
based on external, worldly power. Rather, it
is based on justice, mercy, humility, and the
irresistible power of love. Jesus shows what
God is like. He does not force submission,
but asks for a response freely given: faith and
trust in Him.
But the people of Israel cannot accept this
radical revision of their expectations — they
prefer a king who would restore Israel to
political power. Jesus is crucified on the
charge of blasphemy. But His death is a
victory, the victory of love over the
destructive power of sin. It is a victory
because God raises Jesus from the dead. His
resurrection shows that death is no longer the
end, but rather a new beginning. Because of
the Resurrection, we know that the truth we
seek, and the healing of our guilt, our
loneliness, and our isolation from God and
one another, are found in Jesus.
Jesus voluntarily gave up His life. His shed
blood paid the price for our sins and thus
opened the way for a new covenant — not
only with Abraham, Israel, or David, but with
all people everywhere who want to be God’s
people. This new covenant does not require
the keeping of laws and is not based on
works, but is based on God’s grace alone.
Eternal salvation is freely given by Him to
those who believe and have accepted Jesus as
their Lord and Savior. God made His plan of
redemption very simple and available to
everyone!
This was the ultimate purpose behind the
earlier covenants — to establish a new
covenant through the blood of Jesus.
8 The Early Church
Pentecost, Peter, Paul
The Story
The story of the early church begins soon after the
Ascension, with the coming of the Holy Spirit on
Jesus’ disciples on the day of Pentecost. This
gives them courage to preach and teach about Jesus
even though the Jewish leaders are opposed to
them and throw some of them into jail.
One of the fiercest opponents of the followers of
Jesus is Saul of Tarsus. He belongs to the party of
the Pharisees and genuinely believes that he is
doing God’s work when he tries to wipe out the
church.
Then, on the road to Damascus, he meets the
resurrected Jesus and turns from a fierce opponent
to an equally fierce follower of Jesus. He is
henceforth known by his Roman name, Paul, and
most of Acts is about Paul’s travels around the
eastern part of the Roman Empire (known as his
three “ missionary journeys ”) and his trip to
Rome, where he is imprisoned.
A problem for the early church is getting used to
the idea that the Gospel of Jesus is not just for the
Jews but for all people. The apostle Peter has to
be shown by God that it is okay to baptize non-
Jews — even Romans (Acts 10). ft takes a special
meeting of the apostles in Jerusalem to decide that
non-Jewish Christians do not have to become Jews
(by physical circumcision) before they become
Christians (Acts 15). The door to God’s kingdom
is wide open — God is an equal-opportunity God!
The rest of the New Testament is mostly taken up
with letters written by Paul (the first 13, Romans
through Philemon) and others (Hebrews through
Jude).
The final book is Revelation, which is a book of
God’s final judgment on nonbelievers and the
fulfillment of God’s promise to the church. In spite
of outward appearances and Satan’s threats, God
will win in the end, and His church — those who
trust Him — will be with Him forever!
The Story Behind the Story
Jesus came first for the descendants of
Abraham, the Israelites. But the Gospel of
Jesus is for the whole world — it is the
blessing promised 3000 years ago to
Abraham We see in the early church how
God makes sure that the Good News of Jesus
will be spread all over the world. God’s
people are no longer merely an ethnic or
political group. God’s people are all those
who, regardless of race, gender, or talents,
respond in faith to God’s proclamation that
we are reconciled to Him through Jesus.
The following pages give a quick overview of
where each period of biblical history is found in
the Bible.
A. THE OLD TESTAMENT
(D In the Beginning
Creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. Noah and the Flood. Babel
® The Time of the Patriarchs
Abraham, Isaac. Jacob, Joseph
(3) The Exodus from Egypt
Moses. Aaron, Red Sea. Mount Sinai
® The Conquest and Settlement of Canaan
Joshua, the Judges (Deborah. Gideon, Samson)
D The Monarchy and the Divided Kingdom
Samuel. Saul. David. Solomon, two Kingdoms: Israel and Judah
® The Babylonian Exile and the Return from Exile
Ezra. Nehemiah, Esther
Books Oral were wntren during Ore lost two periods above (Ktngdom, Exrfe
and Return):
Poetry and Proverbs— Job. Psolbis. Proverbs
The Prophets— fsoiob. Jeremiah. Donret Jonah
B. THE 400 YEARS BETWEEN THE TESTAMENTS
C. THE NEW TESTAMENT
® The Life of Jesus
Jesus. John the Baptist. Crucifixion. Resurrection
® The Early Church
Pentecost. Peter, Paul
Books that were written during the lost penod above (the Ear+y Church)
The Letters — Paul Peter, John, Jude, James
The Prophecy (Revelation)
OLD TESTAMENT
Historical Books
Poetic Books
Prophetic Books
Genesis 1- 1 1
Genesis 12- SO
< 3 >
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs
Isaiah Hosea
Jer etniah Joel
Lamentations Amos
Ezekiel Obadiah
Daniel Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Haggai
Zeclur iah
Malachi
NEW TESTAMENT
Historical Books
Letters
Prophetic Books
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
through
Jude
Revelation
The Main Thought of Each
Bible Book
(Some of the books have a principal thought;
others are about a number of things.)
Genesis Founding of the Hebrew Nation
Exodus The Covenant with the Hebrew Nation
Leviticus Laws of the Hebrew Nation
Numbers Journey to the Promised Land
Deuteronomy Laws of the Hebrew Nation
Joshua The Conquest of Canaan
Judges First 300 Years in the Land
Ruth Beginning of the Messianic Family of
David
1 Samuel Organization of the Kingdom
2 Samuel Reign of David
1 Kings Division of the Kingdom
2 Kings History of the Divided Kingdom
1 Chronicles Reign of David
2 Chronicles History of the Southern Kingdom
Ezra Return from Captivity
Nehemiah Rebuilding Jerusalem
Esther Escape of Israel from Extermination
Job Problem of Suffering
Psalms National Hymnbook of Israel
Proverbs Wisdom of Solomon
Ecclesiastes Vanity of Earthly Life
Song of Songs Glorification of Wedded Love
Isaiah The Messianic Prophet
Jeremiah A Last Effort to Save Jerusalem
Lamentations A Dirge over the Desolation of
Jerusalem
Ezekiel “They Shall Know That I Am God”
Daniel The Prophet at Babylon
Hosea Apostasy of Israel
Joel Prediction of the Holy Spirit Age
Amos Ultimate Universal Rule of David
Obadiah Destruction of Edom
Jonah An Errand of Mercy to Nineveh
Micah Bethlehem to Be Birthplace of the
Messiah
Nahum Destruction of Nineveh
Habakkuk “The Just Shall Live by Faith”
Zephaniah Corning of a “Pure Language”
Haggai Rebuilding the Temple
Zechariah Rebuilding the Temple
Malachi Final Message to a Disobedient People
Matthew Jesus the Messiah
Mark Jesus the Wonderful
Luke Jesus the Son of Man
John Jesus the Son of God
Acts Formation of the Church
Romans Nature of Christ’s Work
1 Corinthians Various Church Disorders
2 Corinthians Paul’s Vindication of His
Apostleship
Galatians By Grace, Not by Law
Ephesians Unity of the Church
Philippians A Missionary Epistle
Colossians Deity of Jesus
1 Thessalonians The Lord’s Second Coming
2 Thessalonians The Lord’s Second Coming
1 Timothy The Care of the Church in Ephesus
2 Timothy Paul’s Final Word
Titus The Churches of Crete
Philemon Conversion of a Runaway Slave
Hebrews Christ the Mediator of a New Covenant
James Good Works
1 Peter To a Persecuted Church
2 Peter Prediction of Apostasy
1 John Love
2 John Caution Against False Teachers
3 John Rejection of John’s Helpers
Jude Imminent Apostasy
Revelation Ultimate Triumph of Christ
The Setting of the Bible
1. Why the Setting Is Important
The Bible is full of people, places, and events — it
tells of God’s concrete dealings with humanity and
humanity’s relationship with God in the day-to-day
situations and problems of real life.
While an understanding of the message of the
Bible — the Gospel of God’s eternal love for His
people — does not depend on our knowledge of the
historical, geographical, and cultural background
or setting of the Bible, such knowledge will often
add a concrete dimension to our reading of the
Scriptures that can help put the biblical message in
sharper focus.
For example, in Genesis 23, Abraham’s wife
Sarah has died, and Abraham needs a place to bury
her. God had promised that the land of Canaan
would belong to Abraham and his descendants, but
at this point he doesn’t own even a square inch of
it; he is still a nomad. Abraham approaches Ephron
the Hittite, who owns the cave in which he wants
to bury Sarah. The story reflects an established
pattern of negotiating. Ephron seems to be very
generous, but in reality he ends up selling the cave
to Abraham for an exorbitant price. This was the
only part of Canaan Abraham owned when he died,
and he paid many times what this little piece of it
was worth — yet Abraham continued to have faith
in God’s promise that one day his descendants
would own all of the land (see Hebrews 11:8-10).
Similarly, geography often plays a role in the
Bible. When God called Abraham to go from Ur of
the Chaldeans to Canaan, almost due west of Ur,
Abraham ended up in Haran, almost as far north of
Canaan as Ur was east of it (Genesis 12). The
problem was not that Abraham had a poor sense of
direction. Rather, it was impossible for Abraham
to travel due west to Canaan, since between Ur and
Canaan there was only desert. Abraham had to
follow the River Euphrates, the one reliable source
of water on a journey of some 600 miles as the
crow flies, before heading south to Canaan. (See
below for more on roads and travel during biblical
times.)
2. The Ancient Near East
The setting of the Bible is what is today called the
Middle East: modern Egypt, Turkey, Israel,
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and
Iran. This same region is referred to as the Ancient
Near East when we look at its history.
It is an area smaller than the United States,
much of it desert. The earliest great civilizations
prospered around the rivers in this region — the
Egyptian Empire along the Nile River, the
Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian
Empires around the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, in
what is now Iraq.
We sometimes have the mistaken notion that
Abraham, with whom the story of God’s people
begins, lived in rather primitive times. Nothing
could be further from the truth — unless we assume
that technology and urban sprawl are the hallmark
of civilization. When God called Abraham (ca.
2000 B.c.),
• Egypt had already had a flourishing
civilization for more than a millennium; the
pyramids had been standing for almost five
centuries.
• On the island of Crete, the great Minoan
civilization had already prospered for more
than five centuries.
• The region around the Euphrates and Tigris
Rivers (also called Mesopotamia = “Between
the Rivers”) was the scene of the great
Sumerian civilization. Ur of the Chaldeans,
where Abraham came from, was a thriving
city on the Euphrates River.
• Great civilizations also flourished farther
east, in the Indus Valley and in China.
It was not until after the end of the Old
Testament (ca. 400 b.c.) that the center of power
moved westward, away from the Ancient Near
East, first to Greece and then to Rome.
3. The World Powers of Biblical
Times
The maps: Empires show the six great empires of
biblical times. (The exact boundaries fluctuated,
and some of the boundaries were never clearly
defined.)
As the six maps show, the first three empires
were east and southeast of the Mediterranean Sea;
the last three show a gradual shift toward the west,
until with the Roman Empire the focus of power
shifted from northern Africa and the Near East to
Europe.
• Egyptian Empire. Became the home of Israel
when the Patriarchs moved to Egypt at the end
of Genesis; the Israelites left Egypt in the
Exodus, 400 years later.
• Assyrian Empire. Destroyed the northern
kingdom, Israel, in 722 B.c. and deported its
people. Its capital was Nineveh (which was
spared after Jonah preached there).
Babylonian Empire. Destroyed Jerusalem
and the southern kingdom, Judah, in 586 B.c.
and deported its people to Babylonia. Its
capital was Babylon (where the prophet
Daniel rose to prominence).
Persian Empire. Destroyed the Babylonian
Empire in 539 B.c. Its capitals were
Persepolis and Susa (the latter providing the
setting for the book of Esther). The first
Persian ruler, Darius, allowed the Jews to go
back to Jerusalem
Greek Empire. Founded by Alexander the
Great around 330 B.c. After Alexander’s
death, the empire was divided into four
empires (see The 400 Years Between The
Testaments ! . The legacy of the Greek Empire
was not political but cultural: Hellenism (see
Religious Changes in the chapter on The 400
Years Between the Testaments).
Roman Empire. The empire that was in its
glory days during the time of Christ and the
early church (see The Early Church: Acts-
Jude : for the Roman Empire after the time of
Christ, see The First Centuries: From
Pentecost to a.d. 313 in the chapter A Brief
History of the Western Church).
4. Roads and Travel in Biblical
Times
Our understanding of both the Old and the New
Testament accounts can be enhanced by
understanding the influence that roads and weather
played in the course of biblical events.
In ancient times, the location of roads was
determined to a large extent by the natural features
of the landscape. Most roads through the rugged
hill country of Judah generally followed the
mountain ridges, since a more direct route would
mean climbing in and out of many valleys and
ravines.
Water — either too much or too little — was also
a problem. Roads in valleys and low-lying areas
could flood during the rainy season or become too
muddy for use. Travel during the dry summer
season was much easier than traveling on muddy,
rain-soaked roads in the winter months. The spring
and summer seasons were “the time when kings go
off to war” (2 Samuel 11:1) because the roads
were dry and the newly harvested grain was
available to feed their troops.
Too little water, on the other hand, was an even
more serious problem When Abraham traveled
from Ur to Canaan (see map: Abraham’s Journey
from Ur to Shechem ). he could not simply go west,
which would have saved him hundreds of miles,
since there were no sources of water in the
Arabian Desert. Instead, he had to follow one of
the major international trade routes that connected
Mesopotamia with Egypt, Turkey, and Arabia.
From Ur, these routes followed the great rivers, the
Euphrates and the Tigris, and both went through
Haran, almost 400 miles to the north of Canaan.
The Major International Routes
The “major international routes” were not unlike
the transcontinental trails in the early American
West, such as the Oregon Trail. Basic “road-
building” operations included the removal of
stones from the path, the clearing of trees and
bushes, the maintaining of shallow fords in the
river beds, and possibly the construction of trails
along steep slopes. But these major routes
generally followed relatively easy terrain and
were never far from water sources.
These roads had to be recleared and releveled
periodically, especially when an important
personage such as a king was to travel on them.
Thus it is not just poetic language, but rather a
statement about actual road maintenance when we
read, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight
paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every
mountain and hill made low” (Luke 3:5) — that is,
ruts or eroded low spots must be filled in, and
bumps must be removed.
Living near an international highway brought
economic benefits. These roads served as
thoroughfares for itinerant tradesmen and
merchants, for the conveyance of governmental and
commercial messages, and for the transportation of
scarce supplies, such as copper, iron, tin, gold,
silver, incense, dyes, and pottery. (Bulkier items
such as timber and stones were usually shipped on
boats and rafts.) Those who controlled the roads —
whether brigands or a more permanent central
government — could derive considerable income
from the traffic on these highways. The central
government could collect tolls from passing
caravans, sell food and lodging, and offer the
services of military escorts that could be hired by
the caravans to ensure their safe passage through
“dangerous” territory.
On the other hand, these same roads were also
used for military expeditions, which brought no
economic benefit but only enormous risk in the
case of hostile armies.
Those living along the international routes
were also exposed to new intellectual, cultural,
linguistic, and religious influences, and this
inevitably led to a degree of assimilation. For
example, the ease of travel in and out of Samaria
helps to explain the openness of that area to non-
Israelite religious and cultural influences.
The remoteness of the Hill Country of Judah
and the relatively difficult access to Jerusalem
made the southern kingdom less susceptible to
foreign influences. This difference helps explain
why the deportation of the northern kingdom
happened some 130 years earlier than the
deportation of the southern kingdom, Judah (see
The Monarchy: David. Solomon and the Divided
Kingdom: 1 Samuel-2 Chronicles ).
Roads in Canaan
By the time Abraham arrived in the land of Canaan
(ca. 2000 B.c.), the lines of communication within
the country were already well established. Two
international highways ran through the country, one
along the coast (sometimes referred to as “the Way
of the Sea”), the other east of the Jordan River (the
Transjordanian highway). The western
international highway probably played a role in the
story of Joseph, who found his brothers near
Dothan, was thrown into a cistern, and then was
sold to Midianite merchants, who took him to
Egypt (Genesis 37:12-28). Dothan was less than
15 miles from the western highway, and the cistern
may have been even closer.
The map: Roads and Routes in Canaan shows
many of the regional and local routes in Canaan.
One of these is especially important for biblical
studies: the interregional route that ran from
Beersheba in the south to Shechem in the north —
via Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Gibeah,
Ramah, Bethel/ Ai, and Shiloh. This route appears
again and again in the biblical text. Some people
call it “the Route of the Patriarchs” because
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob traveled its length,
while others refer to it as “the Ridge Route,” for in
many places it runs along the ridge of the
watershed of the Judean and Ephraim mountains.
Even when it is not specifically mentioned, it often
furnishes the backdrop for many events recorded in
the Bible.
These streets in Pompey are exactly as they were in A.D. 79,
when an eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried them under
volcanic ash. These urban streets had sidewalks and
pedestrian crossings: the large stones in the road are stepping
stones, since the roads were also designed to carry off
rainwater. The ruts show that the width of Roman carts had to
be standardized to be able to pass between the stones.
Roman Roads
It was not until shortly before New Testament
times that the Romans developed advanced road-
building techniques, which included the
preparation of the roadbed by leveling the ground
and cutting rocks, the use of curbing to mark the
edge of the roads, attention to drainage, and the
laying of paving stones. The Roman Empire
developed a system of roads that ultimately would
stretch from Scotland to the Euphrates — some
53,000 miles in all. (The U.S. Interstate Highway
System, by way of comparison, consists of
approximately 30,000 miles of road.) It is
probable that the construction of a rather well-
developed road system had already begun in Syria
and Judah in New Testament times.
Travel
Besides walking, early modes of transportation
included donkeys, solid-wheeled carts, and
chariots. Camels eventually began to be used to
carry heavy loads, especially in caravans. Horses
were used in the second and first millennia B.c. to
draw chariots and to serve in cavalry units; during
the Persian period (538-332 b.c.) and later, their
use for everyday travel became more common. In
New Testament times all these means of
transportation were used, and the improvement of
the road system increased the use of carts and
chariots.
The Israelites never were a seafaring nation.
The sea often is used as a symbolic representation
of chaos and of the nations in opposition to God.
Thus Jonah’s running away from God to the sea is
more than just going west instead of east — it
involves symbolically moving toward all that is in
opposition to God. Yet God controls the sea and its
inhabitants. And in Revelation 21:1, the statement
“the sea is no more” may also mean that at last the
rebellious nations no longer can trouble God’s
creation.
5. The Promised Land: Israel
Much of biblical history took place in and around
the land of Israel. Understanding the geography of
this area provides valuable insight as one studies
the biblical events that took place here. Israel is a
country that is about the size of the state of New
Jersey, with a total of 8,019 square miles of land.
The Four Major Zones
The city of Jerusalem, which is the capital of Israel
and the center stage of biblical history, lies
halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the
Arabian or Eastern Desert. Squeezed between
the sea and the desert — which are only 70 miles
apart at the latitude of Jerusalem — are four
“zones” that run north-south (see map: The Holy
Land — Natural Regions ):
1. The coastal plain, which at the latitude of
Jerusalem is less than 12 miles wide.
2. The central mountain range, on which
Jerusalem is situated at an elevation of
approximately 2,500 feet, is about 36 miles
wide.
3. The Rift Valley, through which the Jordan
River runs. It is part of the Rift Valley system
that extends for 3,700 miles from Africa to
southern Turkey.
4. The Transjordanian mountains, which rise
steeply on the eastern side of the Rift Valley
and then slope gradually toward the Arabian
Desert.
The Arabian or Eastern Desert stretches
eastward some 450 miles, from the Transjordanian
mountains to the Euphrates River.
The Seasons
In biblical times, Israel was primarily an agrarian
country. It is sometimes difficult for people living
in urban areas to realize how utterly dependent on
the weather the Israelites were — not just the
farmers, but the nation as a whole. When crops
failed, famine followed. In desperation, Jacob sent
his sons to Egypt for grain (see Genesis 42:1-3).
And Elijah’s prayer that it would not rain (1 Kings
17:1; 18:41-46; 5:17-18) was more than a request
for a few unpleasantly dry summers — it potentially
meant famine and disaster.
The average amount of rainfall varies
considerably in different parts of the country
(Amos 4:6-8). In some years, parts of the country
can go without rain for four or five consecutive
weeks during the months of January and February,
usually the rainiest months of the year. In those
regions where the total annual average is only 12
to 16 inches, the growth of grain crops is by no
means assured, for a variation of only 4 to 6 inches
can spell disaster. In areas where average rainfall
is high, farmers can sow and “reap a hundredfold”
(Genesis 26: 12) in “normal” years, but even there
a series of drought years can be devastating and, in
the past, could drive people from the land (Genesis
12:10).
The Israelites knew that it was Yahweh, the
Lord, who had His eyes on the land continually,
from the beginning of the year to its end, and that
their obedience to His commandments would bring
blessing, while disobedience would bring drought
and disaster (Deuteronomy 11:8-17). But given the
uncertainties about the amount and distribution of
the rainfall, it is no wonder that some Israelites
were drawn to participate in the worship of Baal,
the Canaanite storm god, who was believed to
bring fertility to the land.
Israel’s year is divided into two main seasons:
the rainy season (mid-October through April) and
the dry season (mid- June through mid-September),
separated by transitional months.
The Dry Season — Summer (Mid-June to Mid-
September)
In contrast to the ever-changing weather
conditions in many parts of North America,
conditions in Israel during the summer months are
relatively stable. Warm days and cooler nights are
the rule, and it almost never rains. In Jerusalem,
for example, the average August daytime high
temperature is 86° F (30° C), the nighttime average
low is 64° F (18° C).
Summer days are relatively cloudless; in fact,
Israel is one of the sunniest countries in the world.
On a typical summer day, temperatures begin to
climb immediately after sunrise. Within a short
time a cooling sea breeze begins to blow in from
the west. After passing through the coastal plain, it
reaches Jerusalem in the mountains at about noon,
and its cooling effect prevents the temperature
from rising significantly during the afternoon hours.
But the breeze usually does not reach Transjordan
until mid-to-late afternoon, so temperatures there
continue to climb through most of the day.
The summer months see grapes, figs,
pomegranates, olives, melons, and other crops
ripening. The summer dew and deep root systems
bring needed moisture to these crops. Most of the
fruits are harvested in August and September.
During the summer, shepherds move their flocks of
sheep and goats westward, allowing them to feed
on the stubble of the wheat and barley fields that
were harvested in the spring. Because the soil is
dry during the summer months, travel is fairly easy.
In biblical times, caravans and armies moved
easily through most parts of the country, the armies
helping themselves to plentiful supplies of grain at
the expense of the local population.
The First Transitional Season — (Mid-
September to Mid-October)
The first transitional season, from mid-
September to mid-October, marks the end of the
stable, dry, summer conditions. It is the time of the
fruit harvest, and farmers begin to look anxiously
for the onset of the rainy season. In the fall, travel
on the Mediterranean becomes dangerous (Acts
27:9) and remains so throughout the winter months.
The Rainy Season — Winter (Mid-October to
April)
The rainy season, from mid-October through
April, is characterized by occasional rain storms
that roll in off the Mediterranean Sea, normally
bringing three days of rain followed by several
days of dry weather (although deviations from this
norm are frequent). During January the mean daily
temperature in Jerusalem is 50° F (10° C).
Jerusalem receives snow only once or twice each
year, but it rarely remains on the ground more than
a day.
However, cold temperatures, combined with
wind and rain, can make life uncomfortable in the
hilly regions — a discomfort the people gladly bear
because of the life-giving power of the rains.
During a typical year a farmer plows his field and
plants his grain crops after the “autumn rains” of
October through December have softened the hard,
sun-baked soil. The grain crops grow from
December through February, when 75 percent of
the rain falls, and continue to ripen during March
and April as the rains begin to taper off. These
“spring rains” are important for producing bumper
crops.
Rain is so important that Hebrew has several
words for it, each referring to a different part of
the rainy season. Deuteronomy 11:14 reads, “Then
I will send rain [Heb. matar; Dec.-Feb.] on your
land in its season, both autumn [Heb. yoreh; Oct.-
Dee.] and spring rains [Heb. malqosh; March-
April], so that you may gather in your grain, new
wine and oil” (see also Jeremiah 5:24; Hosea 6:3).
The Second Transitional Season — (May to Mid-
June)
The second transitional season lasts from early
May through mid-June. The temperatures gradually
rise, and the season is punctuated by a series of
hot, dry, dusty days during which the winds blow
in from the eastern and southern deserts. On these
days, which are called by the names of the winds
hamsin, sirocco, or sharav, the temperature often
rises 25° F (14° C) above normal, and the relative
humidity can drop by as much as 40 percent. The
hamsin wind conditions can be very debilitating to
both humans and beasts, and they completely dry
up the beautiful flowers and grasses that covered
the landscape during the winter months (Isaiah
40:7-8). The positive effect of these winds,
however, is that the hot, dry weather aids the
ripening of the grains by “setting” them before the
harvest. It is during this season that first the barley
and then the wheat harvest takes place.
6. The Holy City: Jerusalem
Jerusalem holds a special place in the hearts and
thoughts of Jews, Christians, and Moslems. It is
mentioned some 800 times in the Bible, from
Genesis 14:18 (“Salem”) to Revelation 21:10 (the
New Jerusalem). Although today Jerusalem boasts
a population of nearly half a million people, its
origins were humble.
Location
The importance of Jerusalem is a bit surprising,
given its location. It is not near one of the two
major international highways (see map: Roads and
Routes in Canaan ), and the only road that passed
by it was the north-south Ridge Route, and even
that ran about a half mile west of the ancient core
of the city.
Jerusalem lies in the Hill Country of Judea, at
an elevation of 2,500 feet, which gave it the benefit
of many natural defenses. The Dead Sea, the Rift
Valley cliffs, the Wilderness of Judea, and the
rugged hill country provided protection on the east,
west, and south. It was somewhat easier to
approach the city from the north or south, along the
Ridge Route, but access to the Ridge Route from
either the coast or the Rift Valley was difficult.
Because of the easier approaches from the north
and the northwest, invading armies have often
assaulted Jerusalem from a northerly direction.
Thus, besides being removed from the main
routes of commerce (and of military expeditions),
Jerusalem enjoyed the security of its natural
defenses. If Jerusalem was not a natural center of
commerce because of its location, neither was it
situated in the heart of an extraordinarily rich
agricultural region. In fact, Jerusalem was perched
right on the boundary between the desert and “the
sown” (areas suitable for agriculture). Jerusalem
itself receives ample supplies of winter rain
(approximately 25 inches per year), as do the hills
to the west, so that they are able to produce a
variety of crops, but just over the Mount of Olives,
to the east of Jerusalem, lies the barren Judean
Desert.
Difficult as it is to imagine this today, during
early periods the hills in and around the city were
covered with trees. Beginning some 5000 years
ago, large trees were cut down to provide timber
for buildings and ships, while both larger and
smaller trees were used to fuel the fires in lime
and pottery kilns and to heat houses in the winter
months. Areas that had been cleared could be used
for agricultural purposes, and on the more level
terrain — for example, the Valley of Rephaim to the
southwest of Jerusalem — grain crops were planted
(Isaiah 17:5).
Topography
Jerusalem is surrounded by hills that are higher
than the hills on which the core of the ancient city
was built. Roughly speaking, the ancient city can
be visualized as sitting on a rise in the bottom of a
large bowl, where the rim of the bowl is higher
than the rise within it. “As the mountains surround
Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both
now and forevermore” (Psalm 125:2).
Biblical Jerusalem was built on two parallel
north-south ridges. The western ridge, which is the
higher and broader of the two, is bounded on the
west by the Hinnom Valley, which curves around
and also runs along the south edge of the hill.
The narrower and lower eastern ridge is
bounded on the east by the Kidron Valley. Both the
Hinnom and the Kidron are mentioned in the Bible,
but the valley between the eastern and western
ridges is not. For lack of a better name,
geographers often call it the Central Valley, or —
following the lead of the Jewish historian Josephus
— the Tyropoeon (“Cheesemakers”) Valley (War
5.4.1).
In many ways the western ridge is the more
natural one to settle on, both because it has a
relatively large surface area and thus can support
more people, and because it is higher and seems to
have better natural defenses (higher, steeper
slopes) than the eastern ridge. In spite of this, it
was the lower, cigar-shaped, southern portion of
the eastern ridge that was settled first. The reason
why the ancient core of Jerusalem developed on
this insignificant, down-in-a-basin hill was that the
only good-sized spring in the whole area — the
Gihon Spring — was located alongside the eastern
ridge in the Kidron Valley.
David Captures the City
The city was on the border between the territories
of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, although it
was technically inside Benjamin. During the
period of the Judges, the city belonged to the
Jebusites and was called Jebus (Judges 19:11-12).
It was finally captured by King David, who
attacked the city at its weakest point — its water
supply. Since the spring of Gihon was outside the
city, a tunnel or shaft had apparently been dug to
the spring or a nearby pool to ensure a water
supply in times of siege. Whether David’s
commander Joab entered the city by climbing up
the water shaft or by cutting off the water supply to
the city isn’t clear — but Jebus surrendered (2
Samuel 5:6-8).
With the capture of Jerusalem, David
accomplished several strategic goals. First, he
removed a foreign enclave from a border area and
thus removed a potential threat to the Israelite
tribes.
Second, because of Jerusalem’s neutral
location — neither in the heartland of Judah, like
Hebron, David’s former capital, nor in the northern
part of Israel — it was a capital acceptable to both
David’s own tribe of Judah and to the tribes of the
north who had recently acknowledged him as king.
Besides, by capturing Jerusalem himself, it
became the personal property of David and his
descendants that could not be claimed by his own
or any other tribe — it became the royal seat of the
Davidic dynasty. In addition, David brought the ark
of the covenant from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem,
thus establishing it as the major center of worship
for all the Israelite tribes (2 Samuel 6:1-23; 1
Chronicles 13:1-14).
The city that David captured was small —
approximately 15 acres (6 hectares) in size, with a
population of 2000 to 2400. He evidently took up
residence in the old Jebusite fortress called Zion,
and from that point on, the fortress as well as the
city as a whole could be called the “City of
David’ ’ (e.g., 2 Samuel 5:7).
Jerusalem Under Solomon
Toward the end of his reign, David purchased the
threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, a site to the
north of (and higher than) the ancient city core; this
is the place where Solomon eventually built the
temple (2 Samuel 24:18-25; 1 Chronicles 21:1 8—
26). Soon after Solomon became king, David died
and was buried in the City of David (1 Kings
2:10). Evidently a royal cemetery was established
where many of his descendants, up through
Hezekiah (d. 686 B.c,), were buried, but it has not
been found.
In the fourth year of his reign (966 B.c,),
Solomon began building the temple, a task that took
seven years. The exact location of the temple is not
known, although an old tradition and modern
research places it in the immediate vicinity of the
Moslem shrine called the Dome of the Rock, which
now occupies the highest point of the temple area.
Under Solomon the city more than doubled in
size, from about 15 acres to about 37 acres, with a
population of about 4500 to 5000 people. Among
the increased population were at least some of the
foreign wives whom Solomon married. It was for
them that Solomon built a number of pagan shrines
“on a hill east of Jerusalem” (1 Kings 11:7-8) —
probably on the southern portion of the Mount of
Olives. The location of these shrines was such that
they towered over both the City of David and the
temple of the true and living God.
Jerusalem from Solomon to Its Destruction
With the secession of the north from the south after
Solomon’s death (930 b.c.), Solomon’s successors
ruled over a much smaller territory consisting of
Judah and a portion of Benjamin. Jerusalem
remained the seat of the government for the
Davidic dynasty, and the Solomonic temple
continued to be the focal point for the worship of
the God of Israel.
During the period of the Divided Monarchy
(930-722 B.c.), Jerusalem was attacked a number
of times: by the Egyptian pharaoh Shishak during
the reign of Rehoboam (925 B.c,; 1 Kings 14:22—
28; 2 Chronicles 12:2-4), and by Hazael of Aram
Damascus during the reign of Joash (ca. 813 B.c.; 2
Kings 12:17-18; 2 Chronicles 24: 17-24). In each
case, lavish gifts, taken from the temple treasury,
bought off the aggressors.
But in the days of Amaziah of Judah, King
Joash of Israel attacked the city and “broke down
the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the
Corner Gate — a section about six hundred feet
long” (ca. 790 B.c.; 2 Chronicles 25:23).
We are also told that during the 8th century B.c.,
“Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner
Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the angle of the
wall . . .” (2 Chronicles 26:9) as he strengthened
the defenses of the city — perhaps in response to the
growing Assyrian threat in the person of Tiglath-
Pileser III. It seems very probable that during
Uzziah’s reign (792-740 B.c.) and during the reign
of his successors, Jerusalem expanded westward
so as to include the southern portion of the western
ridge. The large increase in the size of Jerusalem
at this time was probably due to the fact that
settlers from the northern kingdom moved south so
as to avoid the Assyrian onslaught; they may have
thought that Jerusalem would never be taken by a
foreign power because the temple of the Lord was
there, and that the Lord would never allow such an
indignity to be perpetrated (Psalm 132: 13-18).
Soon after the fall of the northern kingdom in
722 B.C., Hezekiah revolted against his Assyrian
overlords (see article on Hezekiah. King of Judah
in 2 Chronicles) and needed to strengthen
Jerusalem’s defenses. Evidently it was during his
reign that the suburb that had developed on the
southern portion of the western ridge was enclosed
by a new wall (Isaiah 22: 10). The total area of the
walled city had swelled to 150 acres (61 ha.) and
boasted a population of about 25,000.
Since the major water supply of the city, the
Gihon Spring, was at some distance from the
newly enclosed suburb and thus was exposed to
enemy attack, Hezekiah devised a plan to divert the
water to a spot inside the city walls, closer to the
western hill. He did this by digging an underground
tunnel that followed a serpentine path to a point in
the Central Valley, which, although it was outside
of the old city wall of the City of David, was
inside the newly constructed city wall on the
western hill. This diversion of the spring water is
mentioned not only in the Bible (2 Kings 20:20; 2
Chronicles 32:30), but also in a Hebrew
inscription that was discovered at the southern end
of the 1,750-foot tunnel (see ARCHAEOLOGICAL
NOTE: Hezekiah’s Tunnel and the Siloam
Inscription in 2 Chronicles).
In 701 B.c. Sennacherib of Assyria attacked.
Although he sent some of his army and
commanders to Jerusalem to demand its surrender
— Sennacherib boasted that he had shut Hezekiah
up in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage — he had to
retreat when, according to the biblical text, a large
portion of his army was destroyed through divine
intervention ( 1 Kings 19:35).
During the 8th and 7th centuries B.c., there
were both good and bad rulers in Jerusalem On
the negative side were Ahaz and Manasseh, both of
whom sacrificed children in the Valley of Ben
Hinnom (2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6; cf. 2 Kings
23:10). It was during Ahaz’s reign that at least a
portion of the temple area was remodeled and a
new altar, based on a pagan pattern from
Damascus, was built to replace the old one (2
Kings 16:10-18).
During this same period there were also two
godly kings, Hezekiah and Josiah, who worked to
undo the evil their predecessors had perpetrated by
taking steps to cleanse and refurbish the temple. It
was during such a rebuilding, in the days of Josiah
(ca. 622 B.c.), that the Book of the Law was
discovered, and in obedience to its commands,
additional reforms were instituted (2 Kings 22; 2
Chronicles 34). But because of the continuing sins
of the people and their leaders, God’s judgment
finally fell on Jerusalem. In 586 B.c, when the
Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed both
the city and the temple, most of the people were
deported to Babylonia.
The Rebuilding of Jerusalem
Fifty years later, the first group of Jews — some
50,000 — was allowed to return to Jerusalem. They
rebuilt the sacrificial altar, but it was not until
some 20 years later that the temple was rebuilt
under Zerubbabel and completed in 516 B.c. (Ezra
6). This second temple was a much more modest
structure than Solomon’s temple had been. A
second return was led by Ezra in 458 B.c,, but the
city walls were not rebuilt until 445 B.c,, under
Nehemiah, almost a century after the first Jews
returned from Babylon.
From the time of Nehemiah (445 B.c.) until the
beginning of the 2nd century B.c,, not too much is
known about Jerusalem. The city remained under
Persian control until 332 B.c,, when Alexander the
Great conquered the Middle East. After his death
in 323 B.c, the Ptolemies of Egypt gained control of
Palestine and Judah, and it is generally assumed
that under their benign rule a priestly aristocracy
governed from Jerusalem.
But early in the 2nd century B.c,, the Seleucid
king Antiochus 111 defeated the Ptolemies (198
B.c,), and the change in rule was welcomed by
most of the Jewish population. With his support,
repairs were made to the temple and a large pool
— possibly the Pool ofBethesda — was constructed
(Ecclesiasticus 50:1-3).
Antiochus IV (175-164 B.c.), however, tried to
stamp out the Jewish religion. The temple in
Jerusalem was desecrated, and a statute of the
chief Greek god, Olympian Zeus, was set up in its
precincts (168 B.c,). It addition, other Greek
structures were erected in Jerusalem, including a
gymnasium and a citadel. The citadel, called the
Akra in Greek, was built on the eastern ridge just
south of the temple area and was so tall that it
towered over the temple area. Although Judas
Maccabaeus’s forces were able to retake
Jerusalem, to purify the temple (164 b.c,), and to
reestablish sacrificial worship, the Seleucid
garrison in the Akra remained a thorn in the side ol
the Jews until Judas’s brother Simon (142-135
B.c.) captured and demolished it — even leveling
the hill upon which it had stood (Josephus, Antiq.
13.6.7 [215]).
At the end of the Hellenistic period the
Hasmonean brothers Aristobulus II and Hyrcanus II
vied with each other for the office of high priest
and control of the country. In the end, the Roman
general Pompey intervened and marched on
Jerusalem. After he set up camps to the southwest
and northwest of the city, the city on the western
ridge was handed over to him by the followers of
Hyrcanus. However, the supporters of Aristobulus
put up a defense on the eastern ridge. In response,
Pompey erected a siege dike around the ridge and,
after building assault ramps, attacked the temple
area from the west, across the ruins of the bridge
that had spanned the Central Valley, and also from
the north.
The arrival of Pompey marked the beginning of
the long period of control over Jerusalem by Rome
and its Byzantine successor, which would last until
the time of the Persian and Arab conquests (a.d.
614 and 639), save for brief periods during the
first and second Jewish revolts.
Jerusalem Under Herod the Great
At the beginning of the period of Roman rule,
Jerusalem experienced great expansion,
construction, and beautification under the
leadership of the Roman client-king Herod the
Great (37-4 B.c,). One of his great achievements
was the refurbishing of the temple and the Temple
Mount. Although he was limited in what he could
do to the temple building itself — the divine word
and tradition dictated its basic dimensions — he
spent more than a year and a half beautifying and
refurbishing the structure.
He did not face similar restrictions when it
came to the courts that surrounded the temple, and
so he spent great sums on expanding these. He is
said to have doubled the size of the platform area
so that it reached its present size — which is almost
twice the size of the city of Jerusalem captured by
David some 1000 years earlier. Although no
remnants of Herod’s temple have been found that
can be identified as such with certainty, the huge
platform on which its courts were built has
survived. The area is now occupied by Moslem
structures and is called the Haram esh-Sharif — the
Noble Sanctuary.
In constructing this large platform, Herod made
use of some existing walls, especially on the east,
but he expanded the platform to the north, west,
and south. Indeed, the western expansion was such
that part of the Central Valley was filled in and
covered over. Today some 26 courses of Herodian
stones, founded on bedrock, are still standing.
These stones are cut so precisely that no mortar
was used in the construction of the wall. A typical
stone weighs two to 10 tons, while the largest of
the known stones measures 46 x 10 x 10 feet and
weighs 415 tons! A portion of this is known as the
“Western Wall” or “Wailing Wall.”
Along the upper perimeter of the huge temple
platform Herod built or refurbished a number of
covered colonnades. The most famous of these was
the southern one, the “Royal Colonnade.” It
consisted of 162 columns arranged in four rows,
forming a long basilica-shaped building. The
columns themselves were 27 feet (8 m.) high and
4.6 feet (1.4 m.) in diameter and were crowned
with Corinthian capitals. Although nothing of the
colonnade remains today, the appearance of its
outer wall can be surmised from the pilaster-
recessed design that is evident in the Herodian
structure that encloses the Tomb of the Patriarchs
in Hebron as well as from architectural fragments
found in recent excavations (see photo of the Tomb
of the Patriarchs in Hebron ).
To the south of the Temple Mount, large
portions of the formal staircase that led up to the
Huldah Gates have been discovered. The
foundations of the gates are still visible in the
southern wall of the Haram enclosure (the so-
called double and triple gates). Although they are
now closed, the underground passages that lead up
to the top of the mount inside the wall are still
preserved. In excavations along the southern
portion of the western enclosure wall, portions of
the north-south street, a city drain, and most
interestingly, the piers that supported a platform
and staircase that led south, from a gate in the
southern section of the western wall of the Temple
Mount into the Central Valley, have been found. A
large, dressed stone has also been found, inscribed
in Hebrew with the words “For the place of the
trumpet blowing.” Evidently, this stone had fallen
from its position on the southwest pinnacle of the
Temple Mount, where it had marked the spot where
the priest stood to blow the trumpet to announce to
the citizens of Jerusalem the beginning of the
Sabbath, New Moon, New Year, and other special
days.
It took Herod almost 10 years to complete the
major construction on the Temple Mount, but crews
were still working on the project long after
Herod’s death in 4 B.c., during Jesus’ lifetime
(John 2:20; ca. a.d. 28), and even as late as a.d. 64
— only six years before it was destroyed by the
Romans in a.d. 70.
To the northwest of the temple Herod rebuilt
the fortress that had stood there and named it the
Antonia, after his friend Mark Antony. This
fortress, situated on a rocky scarp, towered over
the temple area and housed a garrison whose duty
it was to monitor and control the crowds that
gathered in the temple precincts. It is traditionally
assumed that it was here that Jesus stood before
Pilate on the day of His crucifixion, but it is more
likely that Pilate was staying at the palace of
Herod Antipas, and that that was where Jesus was
interrogated, humiliated, and condemned. What is
certain is that the apostle Paul was taken to the
Antonia Fortress (“the barracks”) after being
rescued from an angry mob by Roman soldiers
(Acts 21:34).
(For the history of Jerusalem from the time of
the New Testament until the present, see A Brief
History of the Holy Land and the Jews Since the
Time of Christ . )
Writing. Books, and the Bible
Until about the 18th century, knowledge of the past
was limited. Where facts were missing, the
imagination took over and filled the gaps.
Thus, in 1572 the Dutch artist Maerten van
Heemskerck made a drawing of the ancient city of
Babylon. It looked like a European city of his day,
with a few exotic elements thrown in, such as the
spiral steeple on the tower and the citizens’ lack of
clothing. And he was not alone. Rembrandt’s
paintings of biblical scenes show oddly Dutch
interiors, while the great Italian painters of the
Renaissance often use the Italian countryside as the
backdrop for biblical paintings.
The Industrial Revolution brought with it the
need to move large quantities of soil for the
building of factory foundations, railways, and so
forth. In the process, artifacts came to light that
were clearly ancient, and people began to think
about the past in more concrete terms.
A 16th-century view of the past: Van Heemskerck’s city of
Babylon.
Egypt
In 1798, Napoleon staged an expedition to Egypt.
He took with him a number of scholars to survey
the antiquities of Egypt and to bring some of them
to France. (The most visible reminder of this is the
great obelisk on the Place de la Concorde in Paris,
erected by Raineses II in 1250 b.c, in Luxor and
moved to Paris in 1831.) The scholars with
Napoleon saw the pyramids, the Great Sphinx, and
the many temples and statues that were partially
buried in the sand. They also saw the hieroglyphics
that covered many of these monuments and realized
that they were a written language, but no one had
any idea what they meant. Thus these monuments
were mute witnesses to ancient grandeur — and
Egyptian history remained by and large a closed
book.
Until the hieroglyphics of Egypt were deciphered, monuments
such as this obelisk of Rameses II at Luxor were mute.
A relatively modest discovery provided the
clue. In Rosetta, a town at the western edge of the
Nile Delta, a piece of black granite was found,
about 4x2 1/2 feet — somewhat smaller than a
fully opened newspaper — that contained three
inscriptions, one above the other. The bottom one
was Greek, which was known and could be
translated, but the top one was in Egyptian
hieroglyphics and the middle one in Demotic, a
simplified Egyptian script. The Greek text
indicated that the stone contained a decree of
Ptolemy V and was made around 200 B.c.
The Rosetta Stone, which proved to be the key to the
deciphering of the Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Assuming that all three languages on the
Rosetta Stone meant the same thing, one of the
problems was that no one knew whether the
hieroglyphs were ideographic (each sign
representing an idea) or phonetic (each sign
representing a sound). The breakthrough came with
the realization that the name of Ptolemy V in the
hieroglyphic text was surrounded by a cartouche,
or frame (see photo below). In 1822, the French
scholar Jean-Frangois Champollion finally
succeeded in deciphering the hieroglyphic
inscriptions (it turned out that the hieroglyphics
were partly ideographic, partly phonetic). His
achievement was due in part to the fact that he had
also studied Coptic, a language derived from
Egyptian that is still in use today as the liturgical
language of the Coptic church.
A cartouche with the name of Rameses II, who some believe
to have been the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
Mesopotamia
Interest in the antiquities of Mesopotamia, where
the Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonian empires
had flourished, began at about the same time. In
1811, Claude James Rich, an agent of the British
East India Company who lived in Baghdad, 50
miles northeast of the site of ancient Babylon,
became curious after seeing some inscribed bricks
brought in by a fellow agent. Rich visited the site
of Babylon. He stayed for 10 days, during which
he located and charted the vast collection of
mounds that had once been Babylon. With the help
of inhabitants of the region he dug into the mounds
and found a few tablets, which he carried back to
Baghdad.
In 1820 he visited Mosul and spent four months
sketching a plan of the mounds just across the
river, which he suspected were the ruins of
Nineveh. Here also he collected tablets and
inscriptions that neither he nor anyone else could
read.
The key to deciphering the Babylonian
language turned out to be, as had been the case
with Egyptian hieroglyphs, the discovery of an
inscription in three languages. This time it was a
massive inscription, chiseled some 400 feet above
the ground into a vertical rock wall, 200 miles
northeast of Babylon. The inscription had been
made by order of King Darius Hyspastes of Persia
in 516 B.c. (This was the same Darius under whom
the temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt, as told in
Ezra, and the Behistun inscription was made in the
same year the temple was completed.) The
inscription gave a long account, in Persian,
Elamite, and Babylonian, of the conquests of
Darius.
Sir Henry Rawlinson, the British consul-
general in Baghdad, had some knowledge of
Persian. With amazing perseverance he began
copying the inscriptions in 1835. ft involved a
great deal of physical risk, but he continued his
self-appointed task off and on until, in 1847, he
finished his copying, with the help of ladders from
below and swings from above — and especially the
assistance of “a wild Kurdish boy,” whose name
remains unknown. His efforts paid off: soon
Rawlinson was able to decipher the Babylonian
language.
Most cuneiform tablets contain only text. This tablet shows text
above an Assyrian map and dates perhaps to the 9th century
B.C.
Ancient Libraries
The key to the ancient Babylonian language had
been found just in time for the vast treasures of
ancient Babylonian literature that were discovered
during that period. In 1842, Paul Emil Botta, the
French consul at Mosul, began digging in the
mounds near Mosul that had intrigued Rich so
much, and in the following 10 years he laid bare
the magnificent palace of Sargon at Khorsabad.
Sir Austen Henry Layard, an Englishman who
is called the “father of Assyriology,” discovered in
1845-51, at Nineveh and Calah, ruins of the
palaces of five Assyrian kings who are named in
the Bible, and the great library of Ashur-banipal,
which is estimated to have contained 100,000
volumes.
Thus it turned out that, contrary to what had
been thought before, the ancient Near East was
highly literate. Large libraries had been brought
together that might contain royal archives,
dictionaries, and other reference works, as well as
books on law, religion, science, and literature.
Another one of the great collections of tablets
that has been found is the library of Sargon (722-
705 B.c.), which consists of 25,000 tablets, and the
royal library of Ashurbanipal (662-626 B.c.), with
20,000 tablets. (Both of these libraries are now in
the British Museum) Other major finds were made
at Nuzi (20,000 tablets from the 2nd millennium
B.c.), at Nippur, 50 miles southeast of Babylon
(some 50,000 tablets from the 4th and 5th centuries
b.c,), and elsewhere.
Perhaps the greatest library of all antiquity was
that of Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria and its
library were founded by Alexander the Great a
little before 300 b.c. The library collected books
dealing with all areas of learning. It truly became a
repository for all the knowledge of the ancient
world. The books in the library were not clay
tablets, but scrolls of papyrus or parchment.
The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the
Old Testament) was made in Alexandria in the
middle of the 3rd century B.c., probably in this
library.
Sadly, the magnificent collection of books was
destroyed when the Arabs, under Caliph Omar,
conquered Egypt in 642. According to legend,
Omar’s rationale for burning the library was quite
simple: if the books agreed with the Koran, they
were superfluous; if they disagreed, they were
evil. (It may well be, however, that after three
centuries of Christian control of Alexandria, not
much was left of the collection, given the
antagonism toward pagan learning in the early
centuries of the church.)
Monasteries were also places where books
were collected and preserved. Manuscripts of the
Bible and other writings were copied in
monasteries during the Middle Ages.
We will never know how many priceless
manuscripts were lost or destroyed over the years
— even in monasteries. One of the two earliest,
most valuable, and most complete manuscripts of
the Bible was discovered by accident in St.
Catherine’s Monastery, in the shadow of Mount
Sinai (hence the name of the manuscript, Codex
Sinaiticus; see The Codex Sinaiticus in section 2,
How the Text of the Bible was Preserved). It was
waiting, with other manuscripts, to be used for fuel
in a fireplace.
The Development of Writing
It was not until some of the major ancient
languages had been deciphered that it became
possible to piece together when and how writing
developed. This was not merely an academic
issue. In the 19th century the view held (based on
“scientific evidence”) that writing did not develop
until after the time of Moses, so that the first five
books of the Bible could not possibly have been
written by Moses and that, in fact, the early
portions of Scripture were essentially frauds.
But careful study of the evidence has shown
that writing developed around 3150 B.c, — more
than a millennium before Abraham and more than a
millennium and a half before Moses!
Writing
The invention of writing was without question one
of the most significant inventions in human history.
It was the watershed between what we call
prehistory and history — between the past we can
know only from physical remains (monuments,
implements, human remains, etc.) and the past we
can also know to some extent through written texts.
Without written texts to help us reconstruct the
past, we are limited to conjecture and guesswork.
(An indication of this is the frequency with which
objects from preliterate societies are identified as
“religious objects” — which often means that we
don’t have a clue as to their significance.)
Writing was invented to meet the practical
needs of an increasingly complex society. As trade
grew, it became obvious that it was unsatisfactory
to keep track of shipments, goods, and payments by
means of counting-stones with symbols for objects
or animals scratched in them. Thus, around 3100
B.c. the Sumerians in Mesopotamia came up with a
system of hundreds of somewhat simplified
pictograms (pictures that represent specific things)
as well as signs for measures and numbers. These
were pressed into clay tablets, which made it
possible to maintain more or less permanent
records.
A portion of a relief of Sennacherib’s attack on Lachish (2
Chronicles 32). Without an understanding of the cuneiform
inscriptions, it would have been virtually impossible to identify
this relief as representing a biblical event. (See also the article
on Hezekiah. Kina of Judah in 2 Chronicles)
Once writing was in use, the relatively
complex symbols became increasingly simplified
(streamlining is not a modern invention) and
ultimately became simple, abstract, and geometric
forms. But the symbols still were cumbersome in
that each word or each syllable required a separate
symbol. (In English we use a few symbols for
whole words — for example, @, #, $, %, &.)
The idea that it was possible to capture
language by means of writing soon traveled along
the trade routes to the east and west. The Elamites
to the east adopted the new writing, and from there
it traveled to India and then to China.
When the Egyptians learned of the art of
writing, they — unlike the Assyrians and
Babylonians, who adapted the earliest writing
symbols — created their own symbols, the
hieroglyphics.
The Alphabet
Next to the invention of writing itself, the most
important development was the invention of
phonetic symbols — the alphabet. No longer did
each word or syllable require a separate symbol.
Any word now could be expressed with
somewhere between 20 and 30 symbols. The
invention of alphabetic writing is usually credited
to the Phoenicians, who lived north of Canaan,
although we do not in fact know exactly where and
when the oldest alphabet came into existence. But
it was sometime around 1500 B.c. What is known
is that all later alphabets were either derived from
the Phoenician alphabet or created under the
influence of its derivatives.
scenes show the soul of the deceased hovering over the body
(top); the mummy being prepared (middle); the funeral
procession (bottom).
The Phoenicians initially had no symbols for
vowels (a, e, i, o, u), only for consonants. The
Hebrew alphabet, which, like all alphabets,
derives from the Phoenician, also only has signs
for consonants. Later, when Hebrew ceased to be a
living language, there was a need for vowels to be
added to make sure that the text was read correctly.
This was done in the period B.c, 500-1000 by
Jewish scholars known as the Masoretes, who
indicated vowels by means of small lines and dots
placed in, under, and above the consonants. (Today
Hebrew, once again a living language, is again
written without vowels.)
In the beginning God created
Hebrew text without vowel points
c'rfTK ton mtfiro
Hebrew text with vowel points
v: r r • :
The Hebrew text of the first words of Genesis, both
without vowels and with the vowel “pointings” that were
added during the Middle Ages.
(The downside of the alphabet is that any
written text can only be understood by those who
speak the specific language. The use of symbols
for words or ideas makes it possible for a
language such as Chinese to be read and
understood by people who speak different dialects
and cannot understand one another when they
speak.)
The third major development, after writing and
the alphabet, was the invention of printing, which
revolutionized the world.
Writing, Books, and the Bible
It is difficult for us, inundated as we are with
written words, to imagine what it must have been
like to encounter writing for the first time. A
person’s words could travel without that person —
or even anyone who had heard him or her speak —
being present. Magic indeed! It is not surprising
that in mythology, writing is viewed as a gift from
the gods. At first, writing was available only to an
elite group in which priests figured prominently,
since writing was a means of guarding and
transmitting sacred knowledge. (Writing was also
a way to preserve the knowledge of a ruler’s
exploits and through selectivity a highly effective
means of propaganda, since only victories were
memorialized, while defeats were ignored or
somehow cast in a positive light.)
There are numerous references in the Bible to
the writing of books and to the places where they
were deposited. As early as Exodus 17:14, after
Israel’s defeat of Amalek, Moses was told, “Write
this on a scroll as something to be remembered.”
There is no indication where the scroll was
deposited, but it is noteworthy that the next
statement is that “Moses built an altar” (this took
place before the building of the Tabernacle).
Similarly, soon after he received the Ten
Commandments, “Moses . . . wrote down
everything the Lord had said,” and again, his next
act was the building of an altar (Exodus 24:4).
An Egyptian scribe. In ancient cultures, scribes (who
specialized in reading and writing) were held in high esteem.
From the very beginning, the Israelites were a
people of the Book. The words of God and the
narrative of His actions on behalf of His people
are preserved and read to the people: “[Moses]
took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the
people” (Exodus 24:7).
The priests and Levites were the
acknowledged keepers of these sacred volumes. At
the end of the Ten Commandments we read, “After
Moses finished writing in a book the words of this
law from beginning to end, he gave this command
to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant
of the Lord: ‘Take this Book of the Law and place
it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your
God’ ” (Deuteronomy 3 1 : 24-26).
In Deuteronomy we also read that when in the
future Israel gets a king, and the king “takes the
throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on
a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the
priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and
he is to read it all the days of his life so that he
may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow
carefully all the words of this law and these
decrees” (Deuteronomy 17: 18).
When Israel got its first king, Saul, “Samuel
explained to the people the regulations of the
kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and
deposited it before the Lord” (1 Samuel 10:25).
This writing down and depositing it in the
tabernacle was not simply a matter of keeping
record but rather a solemn ceremony that put Saul
under an obligation to God and the people. The
scroll would serve as a witness against him before
God if he failed to fulfill his royal office.
The first books of the Bible are variously
referred to as the Book of the Covenant or the
Book of the Law. During a period when Judah, the
southern kingdom, ignored the Lord, the Book of
the Law was actually lost for a period of time and
then rediscovered by Hilkiah in the temple (2
Kings 18: 18ffi; 23:2, 21; 2 Chronicles 34:14-15).
And Jehoshaphat (872-848 B.c.) sent Levites out to
teach in Judah: “They taught throughout Judah,
taking with them the Book of the Law of the Lord;
they went around to all the towns of Judah and
taught the people” (2 Chronicles 17:9).
Thus, the writings commanded by God were in
some way identified with the ark of the covenant,
the tabernacle, the priests, and the Levites. This
would seem to imply that there was a library in the
temple in Jerusalem, but there is no direct
statement in the Bible to support this. However, it
is clear that there were collections of books in
Israel. In addition to the Book of the Law there are
references to other books: the Book of the Wars of
the Lord (Numbers 21:14), the Book of Jasher
(Joshua 10: 12-13), the Book of Nathan the Prophet
and the Book of Gad the Seer (1 Chronicles
29:29), and the Chronicles of the Seers (2
Chronicles 33: 19). These books, now all lost, must
have been in existence and accessible, since they
are referred to in the same way we would use “For
further information, see. . . .”
The caves at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were
found. The jar and the scroll are replicas. The actual scrolls
had to be unrolled with special methods, and most ended up in
fragments that had to be pieced together.
In addition to these sources mentioned directly,
there must have been collections of treaties,
genealogies, business transactions, and the like.
The first 1 1 chapters of 1 Chronicles, for example,
required an extensive collection of genealogical
records. Ecclesiastes 12:12 also indirectly
supports the idea of collections of books: “Of
making many books there is no end.”
The oldest library that has been preserved is
the library at Qumran, about a mile west of the
northwest corner of the Dead Sea, which contained
the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. This collection of
scrolls — some complete, some only fragmentary —
consisted of several hundred manuscripts, about
100 of them biblical manuscripts. They were
discovered by accident by a Bedouin in 1947. The
library was put there by a Jewish sect with a
monastery in the vicinity. The manuscripts date
from the last century B.c, and the first century a.d.
One of the manuscripts contained the book of
Isaiah. It was about 1000 years older than the
oldest copy that was known before 1947, and the
two turned out to be virtually identical!
How We Got the Bible
For more information on how we got the Bible and
how it was transmitted over the centuries, see How
We Got the Bible.
Roads and Routes in Canaan
'he Old Testament
TN THE BEGINNING
Genesis 1-11
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth.” In quiet grandeur and simplicity it is stated,
without argument, without explanation.
The first 11 chapters of Genesis are part of a
much larger work: the Pentateuch — the first five
books of the Bible, which according to tradition
were written by Moses. He wrote these books for
the people of Israel on their way to Canaan, the
Promised Land.
Genesis 1-11 sets the stage and holds the key
to our understanding of the entire Bible, both Old
and New Testaments. Within these few chapters,
God reveals Himself to us — He is the Creator, our
loving Father, the provider, and a just judge. God
creates man in His own image, with a free will.
Satan, the great deceiver, introduces sin into God’s
perfect creation. God cannot tolerate sin. Because
God is a just judge, there is consequence for sin.
God has a plan to redeem man to Himself and put
an end to Satan’s power forever.
God’s redemptive plan, which is introduced in
Genesis 1-11, provides for us the backdrop of why
God chose Noah and why He chooses Abraham.
This is also why He will make Abraham a blessing
to the world — God’s plan for the redemption of the
world runs through Abraham and through the nation
of Israel and leads us ultimately to Jesus Christ,
our Savior.
Genesis 1-11
Creation; Adam and Eve
Cain and Abel
Noah and the Flood
Tower of Babel
God saw all that he had made, and it was
very good.
— Genesis 1:31
“I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it
will be the sign of the covenant between me
and the earth. . . . Never again will the
waters become a flood to destroy all life. ”
— Genesis 9:13-15
Who Wrote Genesis?
Ancient Hebrew and Christian traditions say that
Moses, guided by God, composed Genesis from
ancient documents that were already in existence in
his day. The book of Genesis ends about 300 years
before Moses. Moses could have received this
information only by direct revelation from God, or
through such historical records as had been handed
down from his forefathers.
How Genesis Is Organized
The book begins with the “Creation Hymn,”
followed by 10 “accounts” (KJ\( generations),
which constitute the framework of Genesis. It
seems that they were incorporated bodily by
Moses, with such additions and explanations as he
may have been guided by God to make. These 11
documents are as follows:
1. Creation Hymn (1: 1-2:3).
2. The account of “the heavens and the earth
when they were created” (2:4-4:26).
3. The account of Adam’s line (5: 1-6:8).
4. The account of Noah (6:9-9:28).
5. The account of “Shem, Ham and Japheth,
Noah’s sons” (10:1-11:9).
6. The account of Shem (11: 10-26).
7. The account ofTerah (11:27-25: 11).
8. The account of “Abraham’s son Ishmael,
whom Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar the
Egyptian, bore to Abraham.” (25: 12-18).
9. The account of “Abraham’s son Isaac”
(25:19-35:29).
10. The account of “Esau (that is, Edom)” (36: 1-
43).
11. The account of Jacob (37:2-50:26).
These 1 1 documents form the book of Genesis.
• The first six accounts cover the period from
creation until about 2000 B.c, (Genesis 1-11).
• The last five accounts cover the life of
Abraham and the three generations after him,
from about 2000 b.c. until about 1800 b.c.
The book begins with the creation and the first
humans in the Garden of Eden. It ends with
Abraham’s descendants in Egypt.
Between the end of Genesis and the beginning
of the next book, Exodus, is a gap of about 400
years.
1. The “Creation Hymn,”
Genesis 1:1 to 2:3
A poetic description, in measured, majestic
movement, of the successive steps of creation, cast
in the mold of the oft-recurring biblical number
seven. In all literature, scientific or otherwise,
there is no more sublime account of the origin of
things.
Who wrote the “Creation Hymn”? Used by
Moses, but written, no doubt, long before. Writing
was in common use long before the days of Moses.
Furthermore, some of God’s “commands, decrees,
and laws” were in existence in the days of
Abraham, 600 years before Moses (Genesis 26:5).
How did the writer know what happened
before man appeared? No doubt God revealed the
remote past, as later the distant future was made
known to the prophets.
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. God
blessed them and said to them, “Be
fruitful and increase in number; fill the
earth and subdue it. ”
— Genesis 1:27-28
Who knows, perhaps God Himself may have
taught this hymn to Adam? And it may have been
recited by word of mouth, around the family circle,
or sung as a ritual in primitive worship (hymns
constituted a large part of the very earliest forms of
literature), generation after generation, until
writing was invented; God Himself then guarded
its transmission until finally it found its intended
place as the opening statement in the divine Book
of the Ages.
Who Made God?
Every child asks this question — and no one
can answer it. There are some things beyond
us. We cannot conceive of the beginning of
time, nor the end of time, nor the boundaries
of space. The world has been in existence
always, or it was made out of nothing — one or
the other. Yet we can conceive of neither.
This we do know: the highest of all things
within reach of our thinking is personality,
mind, intelligence. Where did it come from?
Could the inanimate create intelligence? In
faith we accept, as the ultimate in our
thinking, a power higher than ourselves — God
— in hope that someday, in the beyond, we
shall understand the mysteries of existence.
If the Bible is God’s Word, as we believe it is,
and if God knew from the beginning that He was
going to use the Bible as a main instrument in the
redemption of humanity, why should it be difficult
to believe that God Himself gave the germ and
nucleus of that Word?
Gen. 1:1 THE CREATION OF
THE UNIVERSE
“In the beginning” God created the universe. What
follows, in the “seven days,” is a description of the
forming of substance already created in
preparation for the creation of Adam
Gen. 1:2-2: 3 THE SEVEN DAYS
Whether the seven days were days of 24 hours, or
long, successive periods, we do not know. The
word “day” has variable meanings. In 1:5 it is
used as a term for light. In 1 :8 and 1:13 it seems to
mean a day of 24 hours. In 1:14 and 1:16 it seems
to refer to a 12-hour day. In 2:4 it seems to cover
the whole period of creation. In passages such as
Joel 3:18, Acts 2:20, and John 16:23, “that day”
seems to mean the whole Christian era. In passages
such as 2 Timothy 1:12 the expression seems to
refer to the era beyond the Lord’s Second Coming.
And in Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8, “With the Lord
a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years
are like one day.”
Note that the six days form three pairs (days 1
and 4; 2 and 5; 3 and 6). In the first of each pair the
realm is created that is later populated by the
objects or beings that are created in the second.
Day 1: Light and dark
Day 2 : Sea and sky
Day 3 : Fertile earth
Day 4: Lights of day and night
Day 5 : Creatures of water and air
Day 6 : Creatures of the land; land animals;
humans’ provision of food
THE STRUCTURE OF THE
ACCOUNT OF EACH OF THE
SIX DAYS
in Genesis 1:2-2:3
1 . Announcement “and God said”
2. Command “let there be,” “let [them] be
gathered,” etc.
3. Report “and it was so”
— a descriptive phrase telling what
God did
— a word of naming or blessing
4. Evaluation “it was good”
5. Temporal statement “there was evening,
and there was
morning — the — day”
First Day: Light, 1:2-5
The heavens and the earth were created by God in
the beginning — sometime in the dateless past. All
was dark, empty, and formless until God said, “Let
there be light,” and there was light. We see that
God’s creative power is manifested by simply
speaking. His first creative word called forth light
in the midst of darkness.
In John 1:1—2 we learn that the “Word” (Jesus)
was in the beginning, and that the “Word” was with
God and was God. John further tells us that
“through him [the Word] all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made”
(1:3).
God did not just make a physical universe:
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very
good” (Genesis 1:31). Whatever God makes is
very good indeed, because the Word through which
He created all things is the very essence of
goodness, beauty, and light: “In him [Jesus] was
life, and that life was the light of men. The light
shines in the darkness” (John 1:4), now as it did at
the very beginning of creation.
Creation and Re-creation?
While most Bible students believe that
Genesis is an account of creation, some
believe that Genesis gives us an account of
both creation and re-creation. In the case of
the latter, v. 1 tells of the original creation,
while v. 2, “Now the earth was [became]
formless and empty,” tells of a time
subsequent to the initial creation when God
re-created the heavens and the earth after
they had become formless and void, perhaps
due to some catastrophic event. The Hebrew
word for “was” used here in the original text is
translated “became” where it appears
elsewhere in the Bible.
Second Day: The Expanse, 1:6-8
The expanse (K.JY firmament), called “sky,” is the
atmosphere, or layer of air between the water-
covered earth and the clouds above, made possible
by the cooling of the earth’s waters.
Third Day: Land and Vegetation, 1:9-13
Up to this point, the earth’s surface seems to have
been entirely covered with water. God commanded
the water to gather in one place that He called
“seas.” We envision that the earth’s crust, as it
became cooler and thicker, began to buckle, and
islands and continents began to appear. There was
as yet no rain, but dense mists watered the newly
formed land, which was still warm by its own
heat. A tropical climate was everywhere, and
vegetation must have grown rapidly and in gigantic
proportions.
Fourth Day: Sun, Moon, and Stars, 1:14-19
On the fourth day, God created the sun, moon, and
stars. It is likely that seasons came when the
earth’s surface ceased to receive heat primarily
from within and became dependent on the sun’s
heat.
In v.16 we learn that the “greater light” rules
the day and the “lesser light” rules the night. These
sources of light have three primary functions (vv.
17-18): they give light to the earth, they govern the
day and night, and they separate light from
darkness.
These passages are beautiful examples of how
God has manifested His image, His divine
characteristics, in all of His creation.
Fifth Day: Sea Animals and Birds, 1:20-25
By God’s blessing and with His command, “be
fruitful and increase in number,” the sea creatures
and birds filled the waters and increased on the
earth.
The Universe God Created
Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way, the
galaxy to which our earth and solar system
belong, contains over 30 billion suns. Many of
these suns are immensely larger than our sun,
which is a million and a half times larger than
the earth. The Milky Way is shaped like a thin
watch; its diameter from rim to rim is 200,000
light-years. (A light-year is the distance that
light travels in a year at the rate of 186,00
miles per second.) There are at least 100,000
galaxies like the Milky Way, some of them
millions of light-years apart. All this may be
only a tiny speck in what is beyond in the
seemingly infinite, endless reaches of space.
Note the progression: inanimate things on the
first and second days, plant life on the third day,
and animal life on the fifth day
Sixth Day: Land Animals and Man, 1 : 24-3 1
The earth was at last ready for animals and,
ultimately, man. God reveals that each living
creature on the land is created “according to their
kind.” This refutes the notion that all species of
animals evolved from a single, common, primeval
organism. It supports the scientific evidence that
living creatures have adapted over time to their
environment, while there is no convincing
evidence that one species of animal has evolved
into another.
God created Adam and Eve in His own image.
God’s divine blessing and benediction for male
and female together was to flourish and multiply so
as to fill the earth and exercise rulership
(stewardship) over all creation. God’s universal
reign is reflected in the rulership that He
commissions humanity to carry out over all earthly
creation. In a sense, God has created the earth as
man’s training camp, where He is preparing us for
our eternal destiny where we will rule and reign
with Christ over all the universe (2 Timothy 2:12;
Revelation 3:21).
God saw everything that He had made, and it
was “good” (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). But soon
the picture darkened. God must have known
beforehand that it would, and He must have
regarded his whole work of the creation of
humanity as but a step toward the glorious world
that will yet emerge from it, as is told in the
closing chapters of the book of Revelation.
It is interesting to note that God declared all
that he had made on the sixth day “very good”
perhaps to stress the relative significance of this
day in comparison to the prior days.
Seventh Day: God Rested, 2: 1-3
God did not rest in an absolute sense (John 5:17),
but from this particular creative work. This was
the basis of the Sabbath (Exodus 20:11). The
“Sabbath rest” is also an image of heaven
(Hebrews 4:4, 9).
3 t ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Babylonian
Creation Stories. Various epics of creation have
been found in the ruins of Babylon, Nineveh,
Nippur, and Ashur which are strikingly similar to
the “Creation Hymn” of Genesis. These epics were
written on clay tablets from before the time of
Abraham,
These Babylonian and Assyrian (as well as the
Egyptian) creation stories are all grossly
polytheistic. They usually argue for the
preeminence of one of the gods and often reflect
conflict or war among the gods. The creation
account in Genesis stands in stark contrast to these
stories by its simplicity and clarity: “In the
beginning God created. . . .”
What Is the “Image of God”?
Passages such as Genesis 9:6 and James
3:9 show that the image of God in humans
was not lost at the time of the Fall and that
even those who are not part of the people of
God possess it. The phrase “image of God” is
not used frequently in Scripture, and its exact
meaning is difficult to determine.
• Some have suggested that it may refer to
some spiritual, mental, and/or
psychological quality in humans, such as
the ability to think, to feel emotions, or to
choose (= free will).
• Others stress the context of Genesis
1:26-27, where the emphasis is on
humans “ruling” over God’s creation.
From the context it is possible to suggest
that as God created, so those who are
bestowed with His image are also to be
“creators”; for example, the first humans
were commanded to name the animals
and to “be fruitful and multiply.”
• Finally, some stress the “relational”
quality of the Triune Godhead that is
hinted at in the phrases “let us" and “our
image.” They suggest that just as there
are relationships within the Godhead, so
too humans have the ability to enter into
relationship with God and with other
humans, and that this is what the image
is. (However, this characteristic of the
Godhead is not fully revealed until much
later — e.g., John 1:1-5.)
It may be that a correct understanding of the
concept actually includes aspects of more
than one of the above interpretations. A major
point to be remembered is that we, as
humans created in God’s image, are related
to God in a special way that is not shared by
other animal life. And as humans we need to
remember that we all are bearers of that
image — which, of course, should influence
how we treat each other.
There are points of similarity between the
Babylonian and Assyrian creation stories and the
Genesis account — for example, the sequence of the
creative acts: expanse (firmament), dry land,
celestial lights, humans. But the similarities do not
prove dependence, although the simplicity of the
Genesis account could argue for the Babylonian
and Assyrian stories’ being corrupted traditions
based on the simple, divine original.
2. The Account of the Heavens
and Earth, Genesis 2:4 to 4:26
This is sometimes called the “second creation
story.” It starts with a reference to the desolate
condition of the earth (2:5-6), which corresponds
to the early part of the third day in the first account
(1:9-10), and then gives some details omitted from
the first account. From there it proceeds with the
story of the Fall. It is supplemental to, not in
contradiction with, the first account.
The man said, “This is now bone of my
bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall
be called ‘woman, ’ for she was taken out
of man. ” For this reason a man will
leave his father and mother and be
united to his wife, and they will become
one flesh. ”
— Genesis 2:23-24
Who was the original author of this document?
It carries the story down to the sixth generation of
Cain’s descendants (4:17-22) and closes while
Adam was still alive. (He lived to the eighth
generation of Seth’s descendants, 5:4-25.) So
everything in this account happened in Adam’s
lifetime. If writing was not invented while Adam
was yet alive, may it not be that Adam told these
things over and over in his family circle, so that at
least their substance took a sort of fixed form until
writing was invented?
Gen. 2:4-17 THE GARDEN OF
EDEN
In chapter 1 the Creator is called “God” (Elohim),
the “generic” name of the Supreme Being. Here it
is “the Lord God” (Yahweh Elohim), His personal
name. It is the first step in God’s revelation of
Himself.
No rain, but “streams” (vv. 5-6). The
translation “mist” (KJY| NASB) would seem
preferable. It would mean that for a while, the
earth was watered by heavy fogs, because the
earth’s surface was so warm, and consequent
vapors so dense, that cooling raindrops on the far
outer fringes of the clouds would turn to vapor
again before they reached the earth.
The tree of life (v. 9; 3:23) indicates that
immortality is dependent on something outside
ourselves. This tree will again be accessible to
those who belong to Christ at the end (Revelation
2:7; 22:2, 14).
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil”
(vv. 9, 17) was “good for food,” “pleasing to the
eye,” and “desirable for gaining wisdom” (3:6).
Whatever the exact nature of this tree — literal,
figurative, or symbolic — the essence of Adam and
Eve’s sin was this: they wanted to transfer control
of their lives from God to themselves. God had, in
substance, told them they could do anything they
wanted to, except for that one thing. As long as
they were in right relationship with God — in other
words, as long as they recognized God as their
creator and master — they experienced life as God
had intended it to be, and they were truly the crown
of God’s creation. They were completely satisfied
with this life until Satan, in the form of a serpent,
deceived them into thinking that if they were like
God and knew what He knows, life would be even
better. Once this seed of deception had been
planted, they became dissatisfied. They wanted to
“be like God.” They wanted to be their own master
and sole master of God’s creation. Is that not the
essence of human sin? From the beginning, God
designed humans to live forever; the one condition
was obedience to God. Adam and Eve allowed
themselves to be deceived by the enemy and in turn
disobeyed God. Then began the long, slow process
of redemption, by a Savior through whom we may
regain our lost estate.
Gen. 2:18-25 THE CREATION OF
WOMAN
It was already stated in 1:27 that man was created
“male and female.” Here the way in which woman
was created is more fully told. And here, at the
start of the human race, is also found the divine
origin and sanctity of marriage: one man, one
woman, one flesh (v. 24).
Scripture represents marriage as an earthly
counterpart to the relationship between Christ and
the church (Ephesians 5:25-32; Revelation 19:7;
21:2, 9). The church is called the “bride” of
Christ. Adam’s bride was made from his side,
while he was asleep (vv. 21-22). This may be a
primeval picture of the church, the bride of Christ,
who receives its life from Him
Naked but without shame (v. 25). It may be
that they were “clothed” in the ethereal light of
God, as Jesus was when He was transfigured
(Mark 9:3), and that that light vanished when sin
entered — but it will one day again clothe the
redeemed (Revelation 3:4; 21:23). Of all God’s
creatures, as far as we know, humanity alone
wears clothing, a badge of our sinful nature and a
symbol of our need for God’s redemptive
covering.
The Location of the Garden
of Eden
The Garden of Eden was on the Euphrates
and Tigris rivers, at their junction with the
Pishon and Gihon (2:10-14). The Pishon and
Gihon have not been identified. The Euphrates
and Tigris originate in the Caucasus mountain
region of southwest Asia, flow
southeastward, and empty into the Persian
Gulf (see map). Two possible locations have
been suggested, one near the headwaters of
the Tigris and Euphrates, the other near the
mouth of the Euphrates in ancient Babylonia
(see map: The Garden of Eden ).
Gen. 3 THE FALL OF MAN
It was effected through the subtlety of the serpent.
The serpent is represented as speaking itself. But
later Scripture indicates that it was Satan speaking
through the serpent (2 Corinthians 11:3, 14;
Revelation 12:9; 20:2). He managed to get Adam
and Eve to disobey their Creator. The dreadful
work was done. And the pall of sin and pain and
death fell on a world that God had made beautiful
and had pronounced good.
Why Did God Make Humans So That They
Could Sin?
Is there any other way He could have made them?
Could there be a moral creature without the power
to choose? Freedom is God’s gift to humanity:
freedom to think, freedom of conscience — even
freedom to disobey God.
In a train wreck, the engineer, who could have
saved his life by jumping, stuck to his post and
thereby saved the passengers, but lost his own life.
They erected a monument, not to the train — it did
only what its machinery forced it to do — but to the
engineer, who, of his own volition, chose to give
his life to save the passengers.
What virtue is there in obeying God if in our
nature there is no inclination to do otherwise? But
if, of our own choice, and against the steady urge
of our nature, we obey God, we find our true
humanity.
But Did Not God Foreknow That Man Would
Sin?
Yes — and He foreknew the fearful consequences.
He also foreknew the ultimate outcome. We suffer,
and we wonder why God has made such a world.
But one day, after all has come to its final
destination, our suffering will be over, and our
questions will cease, and with the redeemed of all
ages we will join in never-ending hallelujahs of
praise to God for creating us as He did, and for
leading us on to life, joy, and glory in the endless
ages of eternity (Revelation 19: 1-8).
The Effect of Sin on Nature
Here, in the opening pages of the Bible, we have a
primeval explanation of nature as it is today: on a
mundane level, a common hatred of snakes (3:14-
15); pain in childbirth (v. 15); and the earth’s
spontaneous production of useless weeds, while
food-bearing vegetation has to be cultivated (vv.
17-19). But there are also foreshadowings of
Christ in the offspring of the woman (v. 15) and in
sacrifice and atonement (4:4).
The offspring of the woman (v. 15). Here,
immediately after the fall of man, is God’s
prophecy that His creation of human beings would
yet prove to be successful, through the “offspring
of the woman.” This is the Bible’s first hint of a
coming redeemer. The use of “he” (v. 15) shows
that one person is meant. There has been only one
descendant of Eve who was born of woman
without the involvement of a man. Here, right at the
start of the Bible story, is this first foreshadowing
of Christ. And as the Bible story unfolds, there are
other hints, pictures, and plain statements that
become clearer and more abundant, so that, as we
come to the end of the Old Testament, a fairly
complete picture of Christ has been drawn. (See
the chapter “The Messiah in the Old Testament.’” )
The Garden of Eden
Other Traditions of the Fall
Persian: Our first parents, innocent,
virtuous, and happy, lived in a garden,
where there was a tree of immortality,
until an evil spirit in the form of a serpent
appeared.
• Hindu: In the first age, people were free
from evil and disease, they had
everything they wished for, and lived
long.
• Greek: The first people, in the golden
age, were naked, free from evil and
trouble, and enjoyed communion with the
gods.
• Chinese: There was a happy age, when
people had an abundance of food and
were surrounded by peaceful animals.
• Mongolians and Tibetans: Traditions
similar to the Chinese.
• Teutons: The primeval race enjoyed a life
of perpetual festivity.
The original story of the Garden of Eden was,
no doubt, told by Adam to Methuselah, and by
Methuselah to Noah, and by Noah to his sons.
In later cultures it became variously modified.
The mother of all the living (v. 20). The
atonement of Christ is based on the unity of the
race in Adam One man’s sin brought death. One
man’s death brought redemption (Romans 5:12—
19).
Gen. 4 CAIN AND ABEL
Assuming that Adam and Eve were created full-
grown, Cain, when he killed Abel, must have been
about 129 years old; for Seth was born soon after
(v. :25), at which time Adam was 130 (5:3).
Abel’s sacrifice (v. 4) was acceptable because
his actions were righteous (1 John 3:12) and
because it was offered in faith (Hebrews 11:4). It
seems that God had instituted such sacrifice when
sin came into the world. It is a sort of primeval
picture of the atoning death of Christ.
Cain’s wife (v. 17) must have been his sister,
for Eve was the “mother of all living” (3:20).
Adam had unnamed sons and daughters (5:4);
tradition says that he had 33 sons and 27 daughters.
Who was there for Cain to be afraid of? (v.
14). In the 130 years from Adam’s creation to
Abel’s murder, a good many generations had been
born, and the total population could have increased
to many thousands.
The mark on Cain (v. 15). Whatever it was,
the people must have understood what it meant.
Cain’s city (v. 17), somewhere east of Eden,
was probably only a village of rude huts, with a
wall for defense, to serve as a sort of headquarters
for his outcast offspring.
In Cain’s family, polygamy soon followed
murder (v. 19). God had ordained in the beginning
that one man and one woman live together in
marriage (2:24). But man soon managed otherwise.
3. The Account of Adam,
Genesis 5:1 to 6:8
This is the third document of the book of Genesis
(see How Genesis Is Organized in the chapter on
Genesis 1-11). It carries the story to the 500th year
ofNoah’s life (5:32).
Gen. 5 THE GENEALOGY FROM
ADAM TO NOAH
The ages in this genealogy are extraordinarily long;
for example: Adam, 930 years; Seth, 912 years;
Methuselah, 969 years (the oldest person in the
Bible); Noah, 950 years. The great age to which
they lived is ordinarily explained on the theory that
sin had only begun to have its malign i nf luence on
the human race.
When the numbers in this chapter are added
together, there would appear to have been 1,656
years between the creation of Adam and the Flood.
Some think that, because this genealogy and the one
in chapter 11 each has 10 generations, they may be
abbreviated (as is the case in the genealogy of
Jesus in Matthew 1).
Enoch, vv. 21-24
Enoch was the best of the first generations. In a
society of unspeakable wickedness, he “walked
with God.” Born 622 years after the creation of
Adam, he was contemporary with Adam for 308
years. “God took him” when he was only 365
years old, 69 years before the birth of Noah.
The only other person to be taken up by God
without having to die was Elijah (2 Kings 2).
Enoch and Elijah may have been intended by God
to be a kind of foreshadowing of the happy fate of
the saints who will also be taken up alive when the
Lord returns (1 Thessalonians 4: 17).
Methuselah, vv. 25-27
At 969 years, he was the oldest of the 10 men
listed in chapter 5. He was the son of Enoch. His
life overlapped that of Adam by 243 years and that
of Shem by 98 years, thus forming a connecting
link between the Garden of Eden and the post-
Flood world. He died the year of the Flood.
Gen. 6:1-8
WICKEDNESS
PRE-FLOOD
The “sons of God” (v. 2) are thought to have been
either fallen angels, to which there may be
reference in 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6, or leaders in
Sethite families who intermarried with godless
descendants of Cain. These abnormal marriages,
whatever they were, filled the earth with
corruption and violence.
Jesus regarded the Flood as a historical fact,
and He likened the time of His coming again to the
days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39). What is going
on in the world today makes us wonder if those
days may be returning.
The 120 years in v. 3 may refer to the time left
before the Flood or a reduced life span after the
longevity of those mentioned in chapter 5.
4. The Account of Noah, Genesis
6:9 to 9:28
This is the fourth document in the book of Genesis
(see How Genesis Is Organized in the chapter on
Genesis 1-11). It contains the story of the Flood,
as told, and perhaps recorded, by Noah, and
handed on by Shem to Abraham.
Gen. 6:9-18 NOAH AND THE
ARK
The ark was about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45
feet high. It had three decks, divided into
compartments, with a row of windows around the
top. It must have been very similar in size and
proportion to ocean ships of today. With man being
situated on the banks of a great river, boat building
was one of his earliest accomplishments.
Cuneiform tablets indicate that at the dawn of
history the inhabitants of Babylonia engaged in
transport by river. If this is true, then boat building
and river traffic may have been familiar to Noah
from childhood.
According to the dimensions given in Genesis,
the ark was for at least five millennia the largest
ship ever built — until 1858, when the 669-foot-
long Great Eastern was built.
i l
Gen. 6:19-7:5 THE ANIMALS
In 6: 19-21 and 7:2 it is explained that seven pairs
of clean animals, but only one pair of each of the
others, were to be taken into the ark. Some have
calculated that there was room in the ark for 7000
species of animals.
It was a gigantic task to build the ark, gather
the animals, and store the necessary food. Noah
and his three sons could not have done it alone.
Being the grandson of Methuselah and great
grandson of Enoch, Noah may, as the Babylonian
tradition says, have been a city-king and may have
employed thousands of men in the work. It was
undoubtedly the subject of constant ridicule, but
Noah persisted in faith (2 Peter 2:5; Hebrews
11:7).
Perhaps the ark is also a symbol of our
salvation in Jesus. Noah, his family, and the
animals all passed through the door of the ark
(7:13). The door is a common symbol of Christ
(Matthew 7:7; 2 Corinthians 2:12). Verse 16 states
that “the Lord shut him in” — Noah and his family
could not have saved themselves. We, like Noah,
are saved by God’s grace. We merely must pass
through the door.
Other Flood Traditions
Traditions of a catastrophic flood are found in
many ancient cultures:
• Egyptian tradition: The gods at one time
purified the earth by a great flood, from
which only a few shepherds escaped.
• Greek tradition: Deucalion warned that
the gods were going to bring a flood
upon the earth because of its great
wickedness; he built an ark, which came
to rest on Mount Parnassus. A dove was
sent out twice.
Hindu tradition: Manu, warned, built a
ship in which he alone escaped from a
deluge that destroyed all creatures.
Chinese tradition: Fa-He, founder of
Chinese civilization, is represented as
having escaped from a flood — sent
because man had rebelled against
heaven — with his wife, three sons, and
three daughters.
English tradition: The Druids had a legend
that the world had been re-peopled by a
righteous patriarch who had been saved
in a strong ship from a flood sent to
destroy man for his wickedness.
Polynesian tradition: Stories of a Flood
from which eight escaped.
Mexican tradition: One man and his wife
and children were saved in a ship from a
flood which overwhelmed the earth.
Peruvian tradition: One man and one
woman were saved in a box that floated
on the flood waters.
• Native American tradition: Various
legends, in which one, three, or eight
persons were saved in a boat above the
waters on a high mountain.
• Greenland tradition: The earth once tilted
over, and all men were drowned, except
one man and one woman, who re-
peopled the earth.
Gen. 7:6-8:19 THE FLOOD
“On that day all the springs of the great deep burst
forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were
opened” (7:11). The Euphrates Valley might almost
be called the Isthmus of the Eastern Hemisphere,
where the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean
approach each other (as the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans come close together at the Isthmus of
Panama). The Armenian mountain country is
almost like an island system, with the Caspian and
Black seas on the north, the Mediterranean on the
west, and the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean on the
south. A cataclysmic subsidence of the region
would cause the waters to pour in from these seas,
as rain poured down from above.
Gen. 8:20-9:17 THE RAINBOW
It may be that the Flood produced a clarified air
that made the Rainbow clearly visible. And God
designated it as the sign of His covenant with
mankind that there would never be another Flood
(9:8-17). The earth’s next destruction will be by
fire (2 Peter 3:7).
Gen. 9:18-28 NOAH’S
PROPHECY
Noah curses Ham and blesses Shem and Japheth.
This “curse on Ham” has often been used against
people of non-white races, especially black
people. It has been used to support the supposed
superiority of the white race as well as a
justification for slavery and all kinds of
discrimination.
How Much Time Did Noah
Spend in the Ark?
• Noah went into the ark seven days
before it began to rain (7:4, 10).
• It began to rain on the 17th day of the
2nd month of Noah’s 600th year (7:11). It
rained for 40 days (7:12).
• The waters flooded the earth for 150
days (7:24; 8:3).
• The ark came to rest on the 17th day of
the 7th month (8:4).
• Noah removed the ark’s covering on the
1st day of the 1st month of Noah’s 601st
year (8:13).
• Noah and his family went out of the ark
on the 27th day of the 2nd month (8:1 4—
19).
• This means that they were in the ark for
1 year and 17 days (5 months floating, 7
months on the mountain).
Has Noah’s Ark Been Found?
In recent years, several reports have been
published claiming that the remains of Noah’s
ark have been found, high up in the Ararat
mountains. While it is tempting to accept
these reports as supporting the historical
truthfulness of the Bible, to date none of the
reports has provided any concrete evidence
(other than photographs that would not lead
anyone to suspect that they showed the ark
unless one were specifically looking for it). On
the contrary: one thing these reports seem to
have in common is that for one reason or
another, any concrete evidence — such as a
piece of wood from the ark — has regrettably
disappeared or been lost. Until an
incontrovertible case with evidence has been
made that Noah’s ark has indeed been found,
it remains lost.
The credibility of the Word of God is not
helped by questionable “proofs” that lack
factual integrity. The Word of God in its full
integrity is its own best defense!
But Noah speaks about Canaan (another name
for Ham). For the Israelites, who received this
book from Moses as they were on their way to the
Promised Land — that is, Canaan — Noah’s
prophecy was an encouragement: God, through
Noah, had placed a curse on the Canaanites. The
Israelites could therefore advance without fear,
since God would give the Canaanites into their
hands. This is underscored by the blessings on
Shem and Japheth: “Blessed be the Lord, the God
of Shem!” and “May God extend . . (vv. 26-27).
The Israelites, as descendants of Shem, could rely
on God’s presence.
It is difficult to define the “Canaanites” as a
specific racial group. Their language, like Hebrew,
was Semitic, but their origins appear to have been
diverse. They were unified by what can be spoken
of as a Canaanite culture.
5. The Account of the Sons of
Noah, Genesis 10:1 to 11:9
The fifth document of Genesis (see How Genesis
Is Organized in the chapter on Genesis 1-11),
prepared, probably, by Shem and handed on to
Abraham; Shem lived from 98 years before the
Flood until 150 years after the birth of Abraham
(11:10).
Gen. 10 THE NATIONS
DESCENDED FROM NOAH
Noah’s family disembarked from the ark on Mount
Ararat, near the headwaters of the Euphrates. Then,
it seems, they migrated back, 500 miles, to
Babylonia, their pre-Flood home. Then, 100 years
later (v. 25), they were scattered by the confusion
of languages.
The descendants of Japheth (w. 2-5) went
northward, settled in regions around the Black and
Caspian seas; and became progenitors of the
Caucasian races of Europe and Asia.
The descendants of Ham (vv. 6-20) went
southward. The names given seem to indicate south
and central Arabia, Egypt, the eastern shore of the
Mediterranean, and the east coast of Africa.
Canaan, son of Ham, and his descendants settled,
and gave their name to, the land which later
became the homeland of the Jews.
The descendants of Shem (vv. 21-31;
Shemites or Semites) included Jews, Assyrians,
Syrians, and Elamites in the northern Euphrates
Valley and its borders.
Nimrod (vv. 8-12) was the most outstanding
leader in the 400 years between the Flood and
Abraham, Grandson of Ham (v. 8) and born soon
after the Flood, he may have lived through the
whole period (judging from the ages mentioned in
1 1 : 10-16). He was a very enterprising man.
His fame as a “mighty hunter” (v. 9) meant that
he was protector of the people at a time when wild
animals were a continual menace. Early
Babylonian seals represented a king in combat
with a lion; this may be a tradition of Nimrod.
In his ambition to control the rapidly
multiplying and spreading race, he seems to have
been leader in the building of the Tower of Babel
(v. 10; 11:9). And after the confusion of languages
and the dispersion of the people, Nimrod seems
later to have resumed work on Babylon. Then he
built three nearby cities — Erech, Akkad, and
Calneh — and consolidated them into one kingdom
under his own rule. Babylonia was long known as
“the Land of Nimrod.”
Still ambitious to control the ever-spreading
race, Nimrod went 300 miles faurther north and
founded Nineveh (though one version says it was
Asshur) and three nearby cities: Rehoboth Ir,
Calah, and Resen. This constituted Nimrod’s
northern kingdom. For many centuries afterward,
these two cities, Babylon and Nineveh, founded by
Nimrod, were the leading cities of the world.
Gen. 11:1-9 THE TOWER OF
BABEL
The confusion of languages occurred in the fourth
generation after the Flood, about the time of the
birth of Peleg (10:25), which was 101 years after
the Flood and 326 years before the call of
Abraham (10:26). It was God’s method of
dispersing the race so that the kingdom man was
creating would never exclude God’s kingdom.
As God scattered the people “over the face of the whole earth'
after Babel, cultures developed and travel and commerce
grew. One can imagine that the generations from Shem to
Abram used caravanserai such as this one: an inn near an
oasis in one of the desert areas of the Middle East. There is no
roof for protection from the sparse rainfall, but there are walls
to keep out wild animals and marauders.
For many years it was believed that the Tower
of Babel looked like a Babylonian ziggurat, a type
of stepped tower. But the ziggurats evolved from
simpler religious structures, and the final form of
the ziggurat did not appear in Mesopotamia until
well into the third millennium B.c, — when there
were already many different languages.
Whatever the exact historical event may have
been like, the purpose behind the Tower of Babel
was similar to that of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.
The people wanted to build a migdal, a fortified
city, with “a tower that reaches the heavens” (vv.
3-4) — that is, they wanted to be autonomous and
grab divine power. They wanted to transcend their
human limitations.
The significance of the Tower of Babel
becomes clear when we look at it in contrast to the
Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), which is its
counterpoint:
Genesis 11: Babel, the city built by people
Acts 2: Jerusalem, the city of God
Genesis 11: The people reach for heaven
Acts 2: God the Spirit descends from heaven
Genesis 11: Languages are confused; people
no longer can understand each other
Acts 2: A single language is understood by
all those present
Genesis 11: The people are scattered
Acts 2: The people come from all over
6. The Account of Shem,
Genesis 11:10-26
The sixth document in the book of Genesis (see
How Genesis Is Organized in the chapter on
Genesis 1-11). In 10:21-31, Shem’s descendants
are named. Here the line is carried straight from
Shem to Abraham, covering 10 generations (427
years). Shem himself may have recorded this entire
genealogy, for his life spanned the entire period it
covers.
According to these figures:
• It was 1,656 years from Adam to the Flood;
427 years from the Flood to Abraham,
• Adam’s life overlapped Methuselah’s by 243
years.
• Methuselah’s life overlapped Noah’s by 600
years, Shem’s by 98 years.
Age at
son's birth
Total
age
son
Age at
's birth
Total
age
Adam
130
930
Arpachshad,
Seth
105
912
born after Flood
2
Enosh
90
905
Arpachshad
35
438
Kenan
70
910
Shelah
30
433
Mahalalel
65
895
Eber
34
464
Jared
162
962
Pcleg
30
239
Enoch
65
365
Reu
32
239
Methuselah
187
969
Serug
30
230
Lamech
182
777
Nahor
29
148
Noah, at Flood
600
950
Terah
130
205
TOTAL
1.656
Abraham
entered Canaan
75
TOTAL
427
There were 126 years between the death of
Adam and the birth of Noah.
• Noah lived 350 years after the Flood; he died
two years before birth of Abraham
• Shem lived from 98 years before the Flood
until 502 years after the Flood.
• Shem lived until 75 years after Abraham
entered Canaan.
• Noah lived to see the 9th generation of his
own descendants.
• In the righthand column, all but Peleg and
Nahor were alive at the birth of Abraham.
In a period of such longevity, the population
increased very rapidly, although the ages became
gradually shorter after the Flood.
THE TIME OF THE PATRIARCHS
Genesis 12-50
The stories of God’s dealings with Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph (the ancestors of the
Israelite people who are also called the patriarchs
of Israel) are recorded in Genesis 12-50. A major
focus of these narratives is the multifaceted
promise that God gave them and reiterated to them.
This promise provides a significant framework for
God’s continuing dealings with humanity (see The
Call of Abraham in Genesis 12-50).
According to the plain reading of passages
such as 1 Kings 6:1, Exodus 12:40, and others,
Abraham would have entered the land of Canaan in
2091 B.c. at age 75 — about midway through the
archaeological period known as Middle Bronze I
(2200-2000 B.c.). The thriving commercial center
of Ur, located in southern Mesopotamia, that
Abraham had left earlier is quite well-known due
to the excavations of the site and to the thousands
of cuneiform tablets that have been found at Ur and
in its vicinity.
The land of Canaan that Abram entered with
Sarah and his nephew Lot was not nearly as
progressive. During this period people lived in
tents in very small, unwalled settlements (most less
than three acres in size). There is, in fact, in the
archaeological record of Palestine a complete
absence of walled cities during this time.
Archaeologically, this period seems to be
characterized by people living in tents and burying
their dead in shaft-type tombs, in tumuli (artificial
mounds), or under dolmens (two or more stones
placed upright with a stone put horizontally on
top). This fits well with the biblical portrayal of
the Patriarchs as living in tents (mentioned 24
times in Genesis 12-50) and making a living by
herding (sheep and goats are mentioned 24 times)
and farming (sowing and reaping in 26: 12).
At the time of Abraham’s death in 1991 B.c.,
the land of Canaan was moving into the Middle
Bronze II period (2000-1550 B.c,). During this
period large fortified cities were again built,
although it is probable that the majority of the
population continued to live in the countryside as
herders and farmers. The Egyptian story of Sinuhe
(which can be found in Ancient Near Eastern
Texts 18-23) dates from about 1962 B.c. (during
the days of Isaac); it describes Canaan as a land
filled with figs, grapes, wine, honey, olives, fruit,
barley, wheat, and cattle (compare Deuteronomy
8 : 8 ).
At the time of Jacob’s move to Egypt (1876
B.c,), that country was experiencing a time of
stability during the 12th Dynasty. At a minimum it
maintained commercial contacts with peoples in
the eastern Mediterranean region as well as those
to its south, in Nubia. Unfortunately, no
extrabiblical records have been found as yet that
refer to any of the people mentioned in this section
of Scripture.
Mesopotamia, too, was experiencing a period
of prosperity at this time (called the Old
Babylonian period). It was during this time that the
famous Hammurabi ruled, who is known
especially for his laws, known as the Code of
Hammurabi. In addition to written documents
found in southern Mesopotamia, a huge cuneiform
archive was discovered at Mari, located farther
north on the Euphrates. The Mari tablets actually
mention several of the more prominent city-states
in Canaan: Hazor (175 acres in size) and Leshem
(later known as Dan; Joshua 19:47; Judges 18:29).
In addition, some of the personal names (though not
the people themselves) found in the Mari tablets
parallel names mentioned in the biblical text, and
the political alliances, tribal background reflected
in the tablets do help illustrate the general lifestyle
of the people during this period.
A dolmen, used for burial, in the Golan Heights. Dolmens
similar to this (standing stones capped by a horizontal stone)
have also been found in Europe, especially in Britain and
France.
Biblical Dates
2091 b.c. Abram entered Canaan
2066 b.c. Isaac born
2006 b.c. Jacob born
1991 b.c. Abraham died
1886 b.c. Isaac died
1876 b.c. Jacob moved to Egypt
Dates for Palestine
(Periods in Palestinian history are named
after materials used.)
2200-2000 b.c. (Middle Bronze I)
People lived mostly in tents. There were
no significant cities. The dead were
placed in tombs, on dolmens (two or
more vertical slabs of rock with a
horizontal rock on top; see photo of a
dolmen , used for burial), or in tumuli
(artificial mounds).
2000-1550 b.c. (Middle Bronze II)
Larger cities were established. Well-
preserved city gates from this period
have been found at Dan and Ashkelon.
Palestine had international contacts with
both Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Egyptian Dates
(Periods in Egyptian history are defined
largely by the pharaonic dynasties.)
2160-2010 b.c. (First Intermediate
Period: Dynasties IX and X)
A time of instability in Egypt. Abraham
visited Egypt during this period (Genesis
12 : 10 - 20 ).
2106-1786 b.c. (Middle Kingdom:
Dynasties XI and especially XII.
The periods overlap, since for a
period of time Egypt was a
divided country)
A time of stability and prosperity in
Egypt. Joseph and then Jacob and
children moved to Egypt.
1786-1550 b.c. (Second Intermediate
Period: Dynasties XIV-XVII)
The oppression of Israel probably began
during dynasties XV and XVI (the Hyksos
dynasties; Exodus 1:8-9).
Genesis 12-50
The Beginning of the Story of Redemption
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your
country, your people and your father’s
household and go to the land I will show
you. I will make you into a great nation and
I will bless you; I will make your name
great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless
those who bless you, and whoever curses
you I will curse; and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you. ”
— Genesis 12 : 1-3
After this, the word of the Lord came to
Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid,
Abram. I am your shield, your very great
reward. . . . Look up at the heavens and
count the stars — if indeed you can count
them. ” Then he said to him, “So shall your
offspring be. ” Abram believed the Lord, and
he credited it to him as righteousness.
— Genesis 15 : 1 , 5-6
7. The Account of Terah,
Genesis 11:27 to 25:11
The story of Abraham, recorded, probably, by
Abraham and Isaac. The last verses of chapter 11
provide the genealogical link between Terah and
Abraham, while the actual story of Abraham
begins in chapter 12.
Gen. 12:1-3 THE CALL OF
ABRAHAM
Here begins the story of redemption. It had been
hinted at in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15).
Now, 400 years after the Flood, God calls
Abraham to be the founder of a nation through
which He would make the reclamation and
redemption of mankind a reality.
God promised Abraham, a righteous man who
believed in God, not in the idols of those around
him, that his descendants would
1 . Inherit the land of Canaan
2. Become a great nation
3. Be a blessing to all nations
This promise (12:2-3; 22:18) is the foundation
for the rest of the Bible. God first called Abraham
in Ur (Genesis 11:31; Acts 7:2-4), and again in
Haran (12:1-4), Shechem (12:7), Bethel (13:1 4—
17), and twice in Hebron (15:5, 18; 17:1-8). The
promise was repeated to his son Isaac (26:3-4)
and to his grandson Jacob (28:13-14; 35:11-12;
46:3-4). These same promises are also found later
in God’s covenant with David (see on 2 Samuel 7).
It seems, from 11:26, 32; 12:4; and Acts 7:2-4,
that Abraham was born when his father was 130
years old, and that he was not the firstborn, as may
be inferred from 11:6. He was 75 when he entered
Canaan, about 80 when he rescued Lot and met
Melchizedek, 86 when Ishmael was born, 99 when
Sodom was destroyed, 100 when Isaac was born,
137 when Sarah died, and 160 when Jacob was
born. He died at 175, which was 115 years before
Jacob’s migration to Egypt.
GOD’S PROMISES TO
ABRAHAM
“I will make you into a great nation” (you
will have numerous descendants) — Genesis
12:2; 13:16; 15:18; etal.
“I will bless you” — Genesis 12:2
“I will make your name great” — Genesis 12:2
“You will be a blessing” — Genesis 12:2
“I will bless those who bless you” — Genesis
12:2
“Whoever curses you I will curse” — Genesis
12:3
Divine blessing for Jews as well as Gentiles
— Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 26:4 (see Galatians
3:16)
Your descendants will occupy Canaan —
Genesis 15:18; 17:8
The promise is eternal — Genesis 13:15;
17:7-8, 13, 19; 48:4
Kings will descend from you — Genesis 17:6,
8
God will be Israel’s God forever — Genesis
17:7-8
Gen. 12:4-9 ABRAHAM’S
ENTRANCE INTO CANAAN
(See map: Abraham’s Journey from Ur to
Shechem)
Haran, about 600 miles northwest of Ur and
400 miles northeast of Canaan, was Abraham’s
first stopping place. He had set out from Ur in
search of a land where he could build a nation free
from idolatry, not knowing where he would end up
(Hebrews 11:8). But Haran was already a well-
settled region, with roads to Babylon, Assyria,
Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt, along which
caravans and armies constantly marched. So, after
the death of his father, Terah, Abraham, under the
call of God, moved on in search of a more sparsely
settled land.
Shechem, Abraham’s first stopping place in
Canaan, in the center of the land, was in a beautiful
valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim.
Here Abraham built an altar to God, but soon he
moved on south in further exploration of the land.
Bethel, 20 miles south of Shechem and 10
miles north of Jerusalem, was Abraham’s next
stopping place. It was one of the highest points in
Canaan, with a magnificent view in every
direction. Abraham was following the ridge of the
mountain range, probably because the Jordan
Valley on the east and the Coastal Plain on the west
were already pretty well settled. In Bethel, too, he
built an altar, as he did later at Hebron, and as he
had done at Shechem, not only as an
acknowledgement to God, but also as a statement
of his faith to the people among whom he had come
to live. He must have liked Bethel; for that is
where he settled when he returned from Egypt,
until he and Lot separated (chap. 13).
Gen. 12:10-20 ABRAHAM IN
EGYPT
As he traveled on south from Bethel, Abraham
must have passed close to Jerusalem Because of a
famine, he went to Egypt, to stay there until the
famine was over. He managed to get himself into
trouble in Egypt. His wife Sarah was beautiful, and
powerful rulers had a practice of confiscating
beautiful women for themselves and killing their
husbands. His cautious subterfuge of calling Sarah
his “sister” was not exactly a lie. She was his half-
sister (20:12). Marriages between near relatives
was common in early ages until the growth of
families offered wider selection.
Gen. 13 ABRAHAM AND LOT
SEPARATE
Lot was Abraham’s nephew. They had been
together since they had left Ur many years before.
But now their flocks and herds had become so
extensive, and their herdsmen so quarrelsome over
pasture lands, that it seemed best to separate.
Abraham magnanimously gave Lot his choice of all
the land. Lot foolishly chose the Plain of Sodom.
Abraham chose Hebron, which was his home from
then on.
When Abraham went to Egypt, the pyramids, including the
famous pyramids at Gizah (bottom), were already almost half
a millennium old.
Not all early attempts at pyramid building in the 26th century
B.C. were successful. The earliest pyramid is the so-called
step pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser (top), which was a stable
structure. But the pyramid at Maidum, which was probably
completed by Pharaoh Snofru of the 3rd Dynasty, was a
different matter. The core was a large, eight-step pyramid.
Around this core, fill was added to create a true pyramid, with
an outer casing. Through a combination of design and
construction problems, the outer part of the pyramid collapsed
at some point, leaving the core surrounded by a mound of
rubble.
The “bent” pyramid at Dashur (center) is the result of a design
change after part of the pyramid had been built, perhaps
occasioned by the collapse of the Maidum pyramid. The sides
in the original design were apparently too steep.
Abraham’s Visit to Egypt
It is well known from Egyptian inscriptions and
artwork that throughout Egypt’s history,
“Asiatics” from Canaan entered Egypt for
various reasons. From the days of the
Patriarchs, dating from perhaps just a few
years before Joseph entered Egypt (ca. 1891
b.c.), we have the painting on the wall of the
tomb of Khum-hotep III that depicts 37
Asiatics entering Egypt for trading purposes.
The colorful dress of both men and women
are well represented. However, it is not
necessary to draw the conclusion from this
that the Patriarchs were merchant/traders, for
Asiatics entered Egypt for many reasons,
including getting food and water for their
families and flocks.
Gen. 14 ABRAHAM DEFEATS
BABYLONIAN KINGS
Abraham wanted to rescue Lot and must have been
something of a military genius. With 318 men of his
own and some help from his neighbors, he sent
these four kings running by means of a midnight
surprise attack. Armies then were small, and
“kings” were in effect tribal princes. Abraham was
a sort of king, perhaps the head of a sizable clan.
A modern Bedouin tent, probably not unlike the tents Abraham
lived in. The tent was (and in parts of the Near East still is) the
most convenient and logical home for a nonsedentary people.
It does not necessarily reflect a primitive lifestyle nor poverty
and absence of luxury: Abraham was a wealthy man.
The kings mentioned in Genesis 14 are known
only from the biblical text. (The attempted equation
of biblical Amraphel with the Babylonian king
Hammurabi is not very plausible.) It is known,
from cuneiform documents found at Mari and
elsewhere, that during the patriarchal period,
various kings often made alliances in fighting
against other kings — a situation that is reflected in
Genesis 14.
Under the protective roof is what remains of the gate of the city
of Dan of Abraham’s day. Abraham pursued the kings who had
taken his nephew Lot captive “as far as Dan.” Little did
Abraham know that some of his descendants (the northern
kingdom) would later go “as far as Dan” to worship a golden
calf there, rather than the true God (1 Kings 12:30).
Melchizedek, 14:18-20
The priest-king of Salem (Jerusalem). Hebrew
tradition says that he was Shem, the son of Noah
and survivor of the Flood, who was still alive —
earth’s oldest living man. He was a priest, in the
patriarchal age, of the whole race. If so, it is a hint
that God had already chosen, right after the Flood,
Jerusalem to be the scene of human redemption.
Whoever he was, as both a priest and king,
Melchizedek was a picture and “type” of Christ
(Psalm 110; Hebrews 5-7). We do know that he
conferred a blessing on Abraham and that
Abraham’s response was to give him tithes, which
was a tenth part of everything he possessed. Many
Christians today follow Abraham’s example by
offering their tithes to God through their churches
and other ministries. Surely they, too, receive
God’s blessings.
Gen. 15-17 GOD’S PROMISES
TO ABRAHAM RENEWED
God renewed His covenant with Abraham
graphically through the ancient custom of passing
between the pieces of sacrificed animals. This
solemn action signified an oath between the parties
of covenant that “May it be so done to me if I do
not keep my oath and pledge.”
The promises include the prediction that before
his descendants would actually live in Canaan,
they would spend 400 years in a foreign land
(15:13), meaning Egypt. In addition, when
Abraham was 100 and Sarah 90, Isaac was
promised. Their impatience with regard to God’s
fulfillment of this promise prompted them to ask
the assistance of their maidservant, Hagar. This
was the custom of the day, to ensure the birth of a
male heir. Thirteen years later, God reminded
Abraham that he needed to keep his part of the
covenant. Ultimately, God’s will and promise was
manifested in the birth of Isaac. The name “Isaac”
means “he laughs” — a name given by God quite
possibly in response to Abraham and Sarah’s
initial disbelief (17: 17; 18:12).
God also instituted circumcision as the symbol
of the covenant with Abraham and his descendants,
a physical marking of Abraham’s male descendants
as belonging to God’s nation.
It is interesting to note that the Arabs, who
consider themselves descendants of Ishmael, are
circumcised at the age of 13. To this people and to
others, circumcision serves as a rite of passage
from childhood to manhood.
Gen. 18-19 SODOM AND
GOMORRAH
These two cities were cesspools of evil. They
were located not very far from Hebron, the home
of Abraham, and from Jerusalem, the home of
Melchizedek. It had been only 400 years since the
Flood, almost within the memory of people then
living. Yet they had forgotten the lesson of that
cataclysmic destruction of the race. And God
“rained down burning sulfur” on these two cities,
to refresh men’s memories and to warn of the
wrath of God that is in store for the wicked — and,
perhaps, also to serve as a foreshadowing of
earth’s final doom in a holocaust of fire (2 Peter
2:5-6; 3:7, 10; and Revelation 8:5, 7; 9:17-18;
16:8).
Jesus compared the time of His return to the
days of Sodom (Luke 17:26-32) and to the days
before the Flood. Both were periods of
unspeakable wickedness. Today, with greed,
brutality, crime, and racial and religious co nf lict
rampant on a scale never before known in history,
it does not require much imagination to see the end
toward which we are heading, however much good
men and statesmen may try to avert it. Unless there
comes a worldwide movement of repentance, the
day of doom may not be far off.
The sons born to Lot’s daughters (vv. 37-38)
began the lineage of the Moabites and Ammonites,
who became bitter enemies of Abraham’s
descendants (1 Samuel 14:47; 2 Chronicles 20:1).
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Sodom and
Gomorrah. The exact locations of Sodom and
Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar (see
Genesis 14) are not known. Scholars have usually
looked for sites near the southern end of the Dead
Sea, where the name “Zoar” was preserved into
the Byzantine Period (4th-6th century a.d.). The
Dead Sea lies at 1,300 feet below sea level — the
lowest spot on earth. The surrounding area is a
desolate landscape with numerous salt formations.
In addition, black masses of bitumen float to the
surface, and some have suggested that these
factors, along with seismic activity, may have led
to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Although serious searches have been made, no
certain identification has been confirmed. There do
not appear to be any remains under the southern
end of the Dead Sea — the level of which has been
dropping in recent years — contrary to what some
biblical students have suggested. Along the
southeastern end of the Dead Sea there are five
large antiquity sites which date to the Early Bronze
Age (3150-2200 B.c.): Bab edh-Dhra, Numeira,
Zoar, Feifa, and Khanazir. Several of these sites
had massive fortifications, and Early Bronze
burials in the region are said to number over
500,000 persons! On the surface of several of the
sites is a spongy, black, charcoal-like substance
that some have tried to relate to the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah. At the present time,
although there are five sites, just as there are five
cities mentioned in Genesis 14, it is difficult to
maintain that these are the five “cities of the plain”
mentioned in Genesis, since archaeologically they
must be dated prior to the age of the Patriarchs on
almost any dating scheme used.
Gen. 20 SARAH AND
ABIMELECH
Although Hebron was his main home, Abraham
from time to time moved from place to place in
search of pasture for his herds. In Gerar, a
Philistine city some 40 miles west of Hebron near
the seacoast, he had another experience like the
one he had had with Pharaoh (12:10-20). Sarah
must have been extremely beautiful to attract the
attention of kings, especially considering her age.
Isaac and Rebekah had a similar experience in
Gerar with a later Philistine king also named
Abimelech (chap. 26).
Gen. 21 THE BIRTH OF ISAAC
Ishmael, at the time, was about 15 years old (vv. 5,
8; 16:16). The apostle Paul used the story of these
two children as an allegory of the Mosaic and
Christian covenants (the old and new covenants,
Galatians 4:21-31).
Beersheba (vv. 30-31), where Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob lived much of the time, was at the
southernmost border of Canaan, some 20 miles
southwest of Hebron and about 150 miles from
Egypt. It was a place of “seven wells.” Wells in a
semi-desert country like that were priceless
possessions.
Gen. 22 ABRAHAM OFFERS
ISAAC
It was a test of Abraham’s faith. Note that God did
not “tempt” him God does not tempt (James 1:13),
but rather tests us to confirm our faith (Exodus
20:20) or prove our commitment to Him
(Deuteronomy 8:2). Satan, on the other hand,
tempts us (1 Corinthians 7:5) in an attempt to make
us fall and to pull us away from the will of God in
our lives.
God had promised that Isaac would be the
father of nations (17:16). Yet, here God commands
that Isaac be killed before he had any children.
Abraham had faith that God would provide an
alternate sacrifice or bring Isaac back to life
(Hebrews 11:19). We do not know how God made
the command known to Abraham, but that it was
the voice of God Abraham could not have doubted,
for he certainly would not have set out to perform a
task so cruel and revolting without being certain
that God had commanded it. The idea originated
with God, not with Abraham
The offering of Isaac was a foreshadowing of
the death of Christ. A father offering his only son
(Isaac was the “only son” of the promise, 21:12).
The son dead for three days (in Abraham’s mind, v.
4). A substitution. An actual sacrifice. And this
took place on Mount Moriah, the very same place
where 2000 years later God’s own Son was
offered. Thus it was a foreshadowing, here at the
birth of the Hebrew nation, of the grand event the
nation was born to bring about.
Moriah
Although the exact location of Abraham’s attempt
to sacrifice Isaac is not known, v. 2 says it was in
“the region of Moriah.” The writer of Chronicles
(2 Chronicles 3:1) indicates that it was at, or near,
that same site where Solomon later built the first
temple. Today a Moslem shrine, the Dome of the
Rock, erected in a.d. 691, stands over the highest
piece of bedrock in the area. It preserves the above
traditions as well as the Moslem tradition that this
is the spot from which Muhammed made his night
journey to heaven.
Gen. 23 SARAH’S DEATH
At Hebron, in the city gate, Abraham purchased the
cave of Machpelah to bury his wife, Sarah. Today,
in the older part of Hebron, is a large structure
called the Cave of Machpelah, a place sacred to
Jews, Christians, and Moslems and currently
inaccessible to all. The exterior of the structure is
composed of large Herodian stones (37-4 B.c,),
and inside that enclosure are the remains of a
Byzantine/Crusader church, a mosque, and a
synagogue. There are three pairs of cenotaphs
(above-ground monuments): a pair for Abraham
and Sarah; a pair for Isaac and Rebecca; and a pair
for Jacob and Leah. The underground chambers
have not been completely investigated, or reported
on, but the visible stone work there also seems to
be Herodian.
The exterior of the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
According to tradition, it is built on the location of the Cave of
Machpelah. The massive outside walls date back to Herod the
Great and give us a clue as to how the outside walls of the
temple area may originally have looked.
Gen. 24 BETROTHAL OF ISAAC
AND REBEKAH
Rebekah was Isaac’s second cousin. Abraham’s
purpose in sending his chief servant (probably
Eliezer of Damascus; see 15:2) back to his own
people for a wife for Isaac was to keep his
descendants free from idolatry. If Isaac had
married a Canaanite girl, how different the whole
history of Israel might have been. What a lesson
for young people in the matter of choosing a mate!
Gen. 25:1-11 ABRAHAM’S
DEATH
Sarah had died at the age of 127, at which time
Abraham was 137. He lived for 38 years after that,
in which time he married Keturah. She bore him
six sons, of whom came the Midianites. Five
hundred years later, Moses would marry a
Midianite woman (Exodus 2:16-21). On the
whole, Abraham was the “greatest, purest, and
most venerable of the patriarchs, revered by Jews,
Mohammedans and Christians,” friend of God,
father of the faithful. Generous, unselfish, yet fully
human. A man of great character, with unbounded
trust in God.
8. The Account of Ishmael,
Genesis 25:12-18
The eighth document of Genesis (see How Genesis
Is Organized in the chapter on Genesis 1-11).
Ishmael was Abraham’s son by Hagar, Sarah’s
Egyptian servant (chap. 16). The Ishmaelites made
Arabia their home and became known generally as
Arabians. Thus Abraham was the father of the
present Arab world. Rivalry between Isaac and
Ishmael has persisted through the centuries in the
antagonism between Jews and Arabs.
9. The Account of Isaac, Genesis
25:19 to 35:29
The ninth document of Genesis (see How Genesis
Is Organized in the chapter on Genesis 1-11). It
contains the story of Isaac and Jacob, handed down
by Jacob to his sons.
Gen. 25:19-34 BIRTH OF JACOB
AND ESAU
Esau, the firstborn, was Isaac’s natural heir, who
would inherit the promises God had made to
Abraham. But God, knowing before they were born
the qualities of the two men, chose Jacob to be
transmitter of the precious heritage; He hinted at
this to their mother (v. 23), and it was the
background of Jacob’s deal with Esau (v. 3 1).
Jacob’s deal with Esau secured him the
birthright that God all along intended him to have.
Esau’s transfer of his birthright for a meal
demonstrated that he was “godless” (Hebrews
12: 16), since at the heart of the birthright were the
covenant promises that Isaac had inherited from
Abraham The owner of the birthright, generally
the firstborn, also received at least a double
portion of the father’s wealth at the time the
father’s death.
In the line of covenant promise, all Abraham’s
sons were eliminated except Isaac. Of Isaac’s
sons, Esau was eliminated and Jacob alone chosen.
With Jacob the process of elimination stopped, and
all Jacob’s descendants were included in the
Chosen Nation.
Gen. 26 ISAAC AMONG THE
PHILISTINES
Not much is told of Isaac’s life beyond this
incident of Abimelech and Rebekah and the
argument over wells. Isaac had inherited the bulk
of his father’s extensive flocks and herds; he was
prosperous and peaceable, and his life was
uneventful.
Note that the Patriarchs not only had sheep,
goats, camels, and donkeys, but also lived a
somewhat sedentary lifestyle, for “Isaac planted
crops in that land and the same year reaped a
hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him” (v.
12 ).
Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 and
Sarah 90. He was 37 when his mother died, 40
when he married, 60 when Jacob was born, 75
when Abraham died, 137(?) when Jacob fled,
157(?) when Jacob returned, and 167 when Joseph
was sold. He died at 180, in the year Joseph
became ruler of Egypt. Abraham lived 175 years;
Isaac, 180; Jacob, 147; Joseph, 110.
The statement about God’s “requirements,
commands, decrees, and laws” (v. 5) would seem
to indicate that the beginnings of God’s written
Word were already in existence in Abraham’s day.
Gen. 27 JACOB GETS HIS
FATHER’S BLESSING
Jacob had already bought the birthright from Esau
(25:31-34). It was now necessary to get his father
to validate the transfer by receiving the
corresponding blessing. This he accomplished by
deception. In evaluating the moral quality of
Jacob’s act, a number of things need to be
considered: (1) his mother put him up to it; (2) he
wanted the birthright because it was the channel of
God’s promise of blessing to the whole world; (3)
with only his human understanding, he thought there
was no other way to obtain it; (4) Esau cared
nothing for it; (5) Jacob paid dearly for his fraud
(see under chap. 29); (6) God Himself, laying the
foundation of His plans for the world (Romans
9:10-13), made the choice before the boys were
born (25:23).
Isaac’s predictions (vv. 29, 40). God must
have put these words into Isaac’s mouth, for they
did come true. Jacob’s descendants did gain a
dominant position among the nations and in time
produced Christ. Esau’s descendants, the
Edomites, were subservient to Israel; in time they
did throw off Israel’s yoke (2 Kings 8:20-22); and
they have disappeared from history.
Gen. 28 JACOB’S VISION AT
BETHEL
The transfer of the birthright from Esau to Jacob
had been validated by Isaac. It is now validated in
heaven. God Himself assures Jacob that from now
on he is to be the recognized bearer of the
promises. The ladder is a hint that the promises
will culminate in something that would bridge
heaven and earth. Jesus said that He was that
Ladder (John 1:51) and the only Mediator between
God and men ( 1 Timothy 2:5).
Jacob is thought to have been 77 years old at
this time. He was 15 when Abraham died, 84 when
he married, 90 when Joseph was born, 98 when he
returned to Canaan, 120 when Isaac died, 130
when he went to Egypt, and 147 when he died.
His first 77 years were spent in Canaan, the
next 20 in Haran, then 33 in Canaan, and the last 17
in Egypt.
Gen. 29-30 JACOB’S SOJOURN
IN HARAN
Haran was 400 miles northeast of Canaan. It was
the place where Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, had
been raised, and from which his grandfather
Abraham had migrated many years before. Laban
was Jacob’s uncle. Jacob was there 20 years. They
were years of hardship and suffering. A wife
whom he did not want was forced on him by
deceit, just as he had gotten his father’s blessing by
deceit. He had begun to reap what he had sown.
Jacob’s Family
Jacob had two wives and two concubines whom,
except for one, he did not want but who were
forced on him. Of these, 12 sons were born:
• Of Leah: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
Issachar, Zebulun
• Of Rachel: Joseph, Benjamin
• Of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant: Gad, Asher
• Of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant: Dan,
Naphtali
This polygamous family, with many shameful
things to its discredit, was accepted by God, as a
whole, to be the beginning of the Twelve Tribes
that became the Messianic Nation, chosen by God
to bring the Savior into the world. This shows that
• God uses human beings as they are to serve
His purposes; He does, so to speak, the best
He can with the material He has.
• It is no indication that everyone whom God
thus uses will be eternally saved. One may be
useful in serving God’s plans in this world
and yet fail to qualify for the eternal world in
the day when God shall judge the secrets of
men for final disposition (Romans 2:12-16).
• The Bible writers were truthful. No other
book narrates with such utter candor the
weaknesses of its heroes and things so
contrary to the ideals it aims to promote.
i l
Gen. 31-33 JACOB’S RETURN
TO CANAAN
Jacob had left Canaan 20 years before, alone and
empty-handed. (At this point, Isaac was still living;
Abraham had been dead for about 100 years.)
Now, he was returning, a tribal prince, rich in
flocks, herds, and servants. God had kept His
promise to Jacob (28:15). Laban’s parting words
to Jacob (31:49) contain the beautiful Mizpah
benediction, “The Lord watch between me and
thee, when we are absent one from another” (KJV).
Angels, on Jacob’s departure from Canaan, had
wished him Godspeed (28: 12). Now, on his return,
angels welcome him home (32:1). Jacob was now
entering his inheritance in the Promised Land of
Canaan. God had been with him thus far. Jacob
remembered that Esau had vowed to kill him
(27:41), and he prayed for God’s continued
protection.
Jacob sent a peace party ahead to his brother
Esau with many gifts. The men returned with news
that Esau was coming to meet Jacob. Jacob was
still afraid. He felt he needed God more than ever
(32:24-30).
That night God appeared to Jacob in the form
of a man. Jacob had the upper hand in wresting
with “the man” all night, but God showed Jacob
that He was more powerful by disabling Jacob’s
hip socket with His touch. Jacob refused to stop
wrestling until “the man” blessed him. In this way
Jacob finally acknowledged that he needed God’s
blessing. As Jacob acknowledged God, so God
acknowledged Jacob by changing his name to
“Israel,” meaning “He struggles with God.”
After Jacob’s encounter with God, he saw Esau
coming with his men. He soon realized that Esau
came to him in peace. Their meeting was one of
reconciliation. They separated again in peace, and
Jacob entered Canaan.
Gen. 34 DINAH AVENGED BY
SIMEON AND LEVI
On his return, Shechem was Jacob’s first stopping
place in Canaan. There he bought a parcel of
ground and erected an altar to God, as if planning
to make it his home, temporarily at least. But the
bloody act of Simeon and Levi made him odious to
his neighbors, and he soon moved on to Bethel.
Gen. 35 GOD RENEWS THE
COVENANT AT BETHEL
Bethel was the place where, 20 years before, in his
flight from Canaan, Jacob had seen the heavenly
ladder and God had made him heir to the
Abrahamic promises. Now God reassures him that
those promises shall be fulfilled. Jacob set up a
stone pillar in recognition of the place where God
had talked to him. Later, on their way to Ephrath
(Bethlehem), Rachel gave birth to Benjamin. She
unfortunately died in childbirth. Jacob buried her
and created a tomb.
Then Jacob moved on to Hebron, the home of
Abraham and Isaac. Sometime after his arrival,
Isaac died at the age of 180. Together Jacob and
Esau buried their father in the family tomb.
10. The Account of Esau,
Genesis 36:1-43
The 10th document composing Genesis (see How
Genesis Is Organized in the chapter on Genesis 1—
11). It contains a brief account of the origin of the
Edomites.
Esau, in personal character, was profane and
irreligious; he “despised” his birthright. Compared
with Esau, Jacob was more fit to be the father of
God’s Messianic Nation.
(On the Edomites and the land of Edom, see
The Edomites in the chapter on Obadiah.)
The Amale kites (v. 12) were a branch of
Esau’s descendants. They were a wandering tribe,
centering mainly around Kadesh, in the northern
part of the Sinai Peninsula, but roaming in wide
circles, even into Judah and far to the east. They
were the first to attack Israel upon their departure
from Egypt, and they oppressed Israel during the
period of the Judges.
Jobab (v. 34) is thought by some to have been
the Job of the book of Job. Eliphaz and Teman (vv.
10-11) are named in the book of Job. This chapter
may supply the setting for the book of Job.
11. The Account of Jacob,
Genesis 37:2 to 50:26
The 11th and final document composing Genesis
contains the story of Joseph and Israel’s migration
to Egypt. Joseph, probably more than any of the
Patriarchs, was a type or symbol of the people of
Israel, who struggled with God and men and yet,
with God’s blessing, overcame all circumstances.
Joseph was a source of blessing to all the nations
(12:2-3). Through Joseph, Abraham’s family
became a great nation in Egypt. This became the
backdrop for the great exodus described in the next
book of the Bible.
Gen. 37 JOSEPH SOLD INTO
EGYPT
The richly ornamented robe (v. 3; KJY coat of
many colors) was a badge of favoritism, possibly
indicating Jacob’s intention to make Joseph heir to
the birthright.
Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, was natural heir to
the birthright; but he was disqualified because of
his illicit relationship with one of his father’s
concubines (35:22; 49:3-4; 1 Chronicles 5:1-2).
Simeon and Levi, second and third in line of
succession (29:31-35), were passed over because
of their crime at Shechem (34:25-30; 49:5-7).
Judah, the fourth son, was next in line, and the
family may have expected that the birthright would
go to him
“Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of
God? You intended to harm me, but God
intended it for good to accomplish what
is now being done, the saving of many
lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will
provide for you and your children. ”
— Genesis 50:20-21
But Joseph, though Jacob’s 11th son, was
Rachel’s firstborn. Rachel was Jacob’s best-loved
wife, and Joseph was his favorite son (v. 3). So the
robe looked suspicious. And Joseph’s dreams of
his own ascendancy (vv. 5-10) aggravated the
situation.
Thus Judah and Joseph appear to have been
rivals for the birthright. This may explain Judah’s
active part in selling Joseph into slavery (vv. 26-
27). The rivalry between Judah and Joseph passed
to their descendants. The tribes of Judah and
Ephraim (Joseph’s son) were contenders for
supremacy. Judah took the lead under David and
Solomon. Then, under the leadership of Ephraim,
the Ten Tribes seceded (1 Kings 12).
Gen. 38 JUDAH’S CHILDREN
This chapter is probably inserted because Judah
was progenitor of the Messiah, and it was in
accord with the Old Testament purpose to preserve
family registers all along the line of succession,
even though they contained some things not very
praiseworthy.
Gen. 39 JOSEPH IMPRISONED
Joseph was of unblemished character, unusually
handsome, with an exceptional gift for leadership
and an ability to make the best of every unpleasant
situation. He was born in Haran, 75 years after the
death of Abraham, 30 years before the death of
Isaac (when his father was about 90), and eight
years before they returned to Canaan. At 17 he was
sold into Egypt and spent 13 years in Potiphar’s
house and in prison. At age 30 he became ruler of
Egypt. He died at age 110.
Joseph gained the attention of Pharaoh by
interpreting his dreams as an agent of God. Joseph
made it clear that interpretations belong to God
(40:8). Joseph’s interpretation was that God was
going to bring to Egypt seven years of great
abundance followed by seven years of famine.
Through the dream, God gave Pharaoh, who did
not know God, a warning and provided a plan of
provision that would support the people through
this time. Pharaoh recognized God’s favor on
Joseph and put him in charge of the whole land of
Egypt.
Gen. 40-41 JOSEPH MADE
RULER OF EGYPT
Joseph married a daughter of the priest of On. But
although he had a heathen wife and ruled a heathen
kingdom, he maintained his childhood faith in the
God of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
These images from the Pharaonic Village in Cairo show the
kind of life Joseph and his descendants may have lived in
Goshen during the good years before a new pharaoh put the
Israelites to forced labor on his building projects.
Gen. 42-45 JOSEPH MAKES
HIMSELF KNOWN
This has been called one of the most beautiful
stories in all literature. The most touching incident
in the story is when Judah, who many years before
had been the ringleader in selling Joseph into
slavery (37:26), now offers to become hostage for
Benjamin (44:18-34).
Gen. 46-47 JACOB AND HIS
FAMILY SETTLE IN EGYPT
God had planned that Israel should be nurtured for
a while in Egypt, which was the most advanced
civilization of that day. As Jacob left Canaan, God
gave him assurance that his descendants would
return (46:3-4).
Gen. 48-49 JACOB’S BLESSING
AND PROPHECY
Jacob seems to have split the birthright,
designating Judah as the channel of the messianic
promise (49: 10), yet pronouncing national prestige
on Joseph’s son Ephraim (48:19-22; 49:22-26; 1
Chronicles 5:1-2).
Jacob’s prophecy about the Twelve Tribes
parallels to a remarkable degree the subsequent
history of the tribes. “Shiloh” (v. 10) is commonly
taken to be a name for the Messiah. The tribe of
Judah produced David, and David’s family
produced Christ.
Gen. 50 THE DEATHS OF JACOB
AND JOSEPH
Jacob’s body was taken back to Hebron for burial.
And Joseph exacted an oath of his brothers that
when Israel returned to Canaan, they would carry
his bones. This belief that Canaan would be their
homeland was not forgotten; and 400 years later,
when they set out for Canaan, the Israelites took
Joseph’s bones along (Exodus 13:19).
THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT
Exodus-Deuteronomv
Egypt
Modern Egypt covers almost 400,000 square miles
(just over a million square kilometers). But 96% of
this area is desert, and 99% of the population lives
on the 4% of the land that is usable, which
stretches along the Nile River in a valley 2 to 20
miles wide, with an average width of about 10
miles, and 750 miles long. Only there where the
Nile enters the Mediterranean Sea does this valley
widen into a broad delta through which a number
of branches from the Nile flow. The Delta, a
triangle, is about 100 miles north and south, and
about 150 miles east and west, from Port Said to
Alexandria. It is the most fertile part of Egypt. The
land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was the
eastern part of the Delta.
The floor of the valley is covered with a black
alluvial deposit of rich soil of unparalleled
fertility, replenished each year by the overflow of
the Nile, which rises an average of 25 feet once a
year.
Surrounded and protected by the desert, one of
the first great civilizations in history developed in
this narrow Nile Valley, and nowhere else have the
remains of an ancient civilization been so well
preserved. The dry desert climate has preserved,
for thousands of years, materials that would have
perished long since in other climates, such as
papyrus and leather.
The population of modern Egypt is about 50
million; in Old Testament times it was between 1
1/2 and 5 million.
When Was the Exodus?
There are two major views regarding the date of
the Exodus from Egypt. The first, called the Early
Date Theory is based on a literal reading of 1
Kings 6:1: “In the four hundred and eightieth year
after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the
fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the
month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build
the temple of the Lord.”
Since Solomon began to rule in 970 B.c., the
fourth year of his reign would be 966 B.c. The text
says that the Exodus from Egypt took place 480
years before this; that gives 1446 b.c. as the
approximate date of the Exodus. In this view,
Moses would have grown up and lived for 40
years at the court of three very powerful kings of
the 18th Dynasty, Thutmose I, II, and III. (For more
details on the Egyptian kings and pharaohs, see the
section Who Was the Pharaoh of the Exodus? in the
chapter on The Exodus from Egypt: Exodus-
Deuteronomy.) It is then possible — though not at
all certain — that Hatshepsut was the Egyptian
princess, mentioned in Exodus 2, who adopted
Moses.
The internal chronology of the biblical text
when set against Egyptian chronology would thus
indicate that Moses fled Egypt during the long
reign of the very powerful Thutmose III and
returned — after tending Jethro’s sheep for 40 years
— to the court of Amenhotep II, during whose reign
he led Israel out of Egypt (ca. 1446 B.c.).
Those who hold to a Late Date Theory of the
Exodus (around 1290 B.c.) point to Exodus 1:11:
“So they put slave masters over them to oppress
them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and
Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.” They argue
that the Rameses mentioned here must be named
for one of the Rameses pharaohs of the 19th
Dynasty — usually Rameses II.
Arguments and counterarguments are put forth
by all sides, based on additional factors of biblical
and Egyptian chronology as well as on the results
of archaeological excavations in Israel and Jordan
relating to the conquest of the land by the Israelites
— ca. 1400 b.c, (early date) or ca. 1250 b.c, (late
date). Sites such as Jericho, Ai, and Hazor figure
prominently in the discussion, for they are said to
have been burned and destroyed by the invading
Israelites (see the book of Joshua).
All, however, are agreed that Israel was in the
land by Merneptah’s fifth year (ca. 1231 B.c.):
Israel is actually mentioned on a stela of
Merneptah as already living in the land of Canaan.
The early date — though not without problems
— fits the biblical as well as the extrabiblical data
the best.
Who Was the Pharaoh of the Exodus?
According to the biblical data, Jacob and his
family entered Egypt around 1876 B.c,, which
would have been during the reign of King Sesostris
III of the 12th Dynasty. The kings of the 15th and
16th Dynasties were Hyksos, a Semitic line of
conquerors from Asia, possibly kin to the
Israelites, who had pressed in from Syria.
It is possible that the “new king, who did not
know about Joseph” (Exodus 1:8), during whose
rule the oppression began, was one of the kings of
these Hyksos dynasties. As a member of a small
ruling elite, the Hyksos king would have been
afraid that his more numerous subjects would
revolt (“the Israelites have become much too
numerous for us,” Exodus 1:9). The Hyksos were
driven out by King Ahrnose of the 18th Dynasty,
around 1570 B.c. It is possible that after the Hyksos
were driven out, the oppression of the Israelites
actually increased, since the Hyksos, like the
Israelites, were Semites and their expulsion
resulted in a general anti-Semitic reaction. Ahmose
also made Palestine and Syria tributaries to Egypt.
Amenhotep 1(1545 B.c.)
Thutmose I (1529 b.c.). Boasted that he ruled
from the third cataract of the Nile to the Euphrates
River about 700 miles to the northeast of Egypt.
First royal rock-cut tomb.
Thutmose II (1517 b.c,). Hatshepsut, his half-
sister and wife, was the real ruler.
Hatshepsut (1504 B.c,). Daughter of Thutmose
I. Regent for Thutmose II and Thutmose III. The
first great queen in history. A most remarkable
woman, and one of Egypt’s greatest and most
vigorous rulers. She had many of her statues
represent her as a man. She extended the empire
and built many monuments, such as the two great
obelisks at Karnak and the great temple at Deir el
Bahri, furnished with many statues of herself.
Thutmose HI hated her, and when she died, one of
his first acts was to take her name off all
monuments and destroy all her statues. Those at
Bahri were broken to pieces, flung into a quarry,
and covered by drifting sands.
Thutmose HI (1504 b.c.). Queen Hatshepsut,
his half-sister, was regent during the early years of
his reign, and though he despised her, she
completely dominated him. His sole rule began in
1482, in which year he made the first of 17
campaigns into the Levant (the region east of the
Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Egypt),
taking control of the area. After her death, he ruled
alone for 30 years. He was the greatest conqueror
in Egyptian history. He subdued Ethiopia and ruled
to the Euphrates, creating a great empire. He
raided Palestine and Syria 17 times. He
accumulated great wealth, engaged in vast building
enterprises, and recorded his achievements in
detail on walls and monuments. He is thought to
have been one of the oppressors of Israel. If so,
then the famous Queen Hatshepsut may have been
the pharaoh’s daughter who rescued and brought up
Moses.
Amenhotep II (1453 B.c,). Many scholars
think he was the pharaoh of the Exodus. He
maintained the empire founded by Thutmose III.
Interestingly, he is not known for military
campaigns late in his reign — perhaps because ol
the loss of his chariots and troops at the Red Sea?
Thutmose IV (1426 B.c,). The chariot in which
he rode has been found. His mummy is now at
Cairo.
Amenhotep III (1416 B.c.). Under him, the
empire experienced its era of greatest splendor. He
raided Canaan during the early years of his reign.
He built vast temples. During his years, and those
of his successor, Akhenaten, the cuneiform
documents found at el-Amarna were written. His
mummy is in Cairo.
Akhenaten (1380 B.c.). Under him, Egypt lost
its Asiatic Empire. He attempted to establish
monotheistic sun worship.
Tutankhamen. (1377 B.c.) Son-in-law ol
Akhenaten. He restored the old religion. He was
one of the lesser rulers of Egypt, at the close of the
most brilliant period of Egyptian history. He is
famous now for the amazing riches and
magnificence of his tomb, which was discovered
by Howard Carter in 1922 — the first tomb of a
pharaoh to be discovered that had not been robbed.
The inner coffin, which contains his mummy, is
made of solid gold.
Rameses II (1304 b.c.) After several lesser
rulers, Rameses II was one of the greatest of the
pharaohs, though inferior to Thutmose III and
Amenhotep III. He ruled for 67 years and was a
great builder, a great self-promoter, and something
of a plagiarist, claiming credit in some cases for
accomplishments of his predecessors. He
reestablished the empire from Ethiopia to the
Euphrates and raided and pillaged Palestine
repeatedly. He completed the great hall at Karnak
and other vast works, including fortifications,
canals, and temples, which were built by slaves
taken in war or captives from the far south, along
with the native working class, toiling in gangs in
the quarry or brick fields, or dragging great stone
blocks over soft earth. Some scholars consider him
to be the pharaoh of the Exodus (the so-called Late
Date Exodus; see the section When Was the
Exodus? in the chapter on The Exodus from Egypt:
Exodus-Deuteronomy) .
Merneptah (1236 B.c.) On his stela he
mentions having defeated Israel — “Israel is laid
waste, his seed is not” — indicating that Israel was
already in the land of Canaan.
What Route Did the Israelites Follow After the
Exodus?
The books of Exodus and Numbers contain a
considerable amount of geographical information
in the narrative of the Exodus and the journey to the
land of Canaan. But many of the places and regions
mentioned remain unknown. The major reason for
this is that the population of the desert-wilderness
regions of the Sinai Peninsula, the Negev, and parts
of southern Transjordan was nomadic. Without a
continuity of a sedentary population, the
preservation of ancient place names is almost
impossible.
The other difficulty is that archaeologists have
not discovered any remains that can be attributed
to the Israelites in those regions through which they
traveled. This, however, could be expected, for a
nomadic people, living in tents and using animal
skins instead of pottery for containers, would leave
few permanent remains behind.
Thus scholars are divided on the location even
of major landmarks such as the Red Sea and Mount
Sinai. It has been noted that nine different
proposals have been made for the location of the
Red Sea or Reed Sea — including three lakes near
the Mediterranean Sea, four lakes along the line of
the present-day Suez Canal, and the Gulf of Suez
and the Gulf of Elath. There are also 12 different
candidates for Mount Sinai: five in the southern
part of the Sinai Peninsula, four in the north, one in
the center, one in Midian (Saudi Arabia), and one
in Edom (southern Transjordan).
In spite of these uncertainties, a few
suggestions can be made:
1. After leaving Raineses (Tell el-Dab’a), the
Israelites journeyed to Succoth (possibly Tell
el-Maskhuta in the Wadi Tumi 1 at). For fear of
their becoming discouraged because of war,
“God did not lead them by the way of the land
of the Philistines” (Exodus 13:17 NASB).
“God did not lead them on the road through
the Philistine country, though that was
shorter” (Exodus 13:17 NTV). This well-
known route from Sile to Gaza, across the
northern Sinai Peninsula, was the one
pharaohs Thutmose III and Amenhotep II had
used so effectively on their frequent
campaigns to Canaan, and it must have been
well fortified by Egyptian troops. Thus a
northern route for the Exodus seems excluded.
2. Since the Israelites were led “around by the
desert road toward the Red Sea” (Exodus
13:18), it appears that they were heading
southeast toward modern Suez. The location
of Etham (“fort” in Egyptian), Migdol (“fort”
in Semitic), Baal Zephon, and Pi Hahiroth are
problematic. The suggestion that Hahiroth
refers to the low ground between Jebel
Geneife and the Bitter Lakes is plausible but
not certain. Etham and Migdol could be any of
a number of Egyptian forts located near the
present-day Suez Canal.
3. On the next stage of their journey the
Israelites crossed the Red Sea. Since the
Hebrew text literally means “Reed Sea,”
many scholars look for a location in the
lake/marsh that used to exist in the region
through which the Suez Canal now passes.
The suggestion for a location near the junction
of the Great and Little Bitter lakes is as
plausible as any. According to 19th-century
travelers, the water at that spot was not very
deep, and they even mention that at times the
depth of the water decreased when the wind
shifted. According to the text, the “Lord drove
the sea back with a strong east wind” (Exodus
14:21).
4. The identification of Mount Sinai (Horeb)
with Jebel Musa (“Mount Moses”) is based
on Christian tradition dating back to the 4th
century A. D., about 1,750 years after the event.
There, during the Byzantine period (a.d. 324-
640), the desert monastery of St. Catherine
was established. Although the Greek
Orthodox monks today like to point out the
very site of the giving of the Law, the place
where the golden calf was erected, the plain
where the Israelites camped, the site of the
burning bush, and so on, the suggested
identification of Mount Sinai with Jebel Sin
Bisher deserves careful attention. Its location
agrees with some of the biblical data. For
example, it is located approximately three
days’ journey from Egypt (Exodus 3:18; 5:3;
8:27), at a desert junction where there are fair
supplies of water; possibly the Amalekites
fought with Israel for control of this junction
and the water sources (Exodus 17). It is close
to Egypt on the road that led directly from
Midian to Egypt, and thus it would make a
plausible location for the burning bush
incident. Moses could have been bringing
Jethro’s sheep along this road in order to use
the water and pasture land found on the
eastern edge of the Nile delta when the Lord
appeared to him in the burning bush. This is
said to have taken place near the mountain
where he would later worship him (Exodus
3:1). Since it is reasonable to assume that
Moses used the way of the wilderness on his
return to Egypt, the meeting of Moses and
Aaron at the “mountain of God” could well
have been at this spot (Exodus 4:27).
5. The location of Marah, where the water was
bitter (Exodus 15:23), and of Elim, where
there were 12 springs and 70 palm trees (v.
27), depends on where one locates Mount
Sinai. If Jebel Sin Bisher is accepted as
Mount Sinai, then the identifications of Marah
and Elim with Bir Mara (“bitter well” in
Arabic) and Ayun Musa (“the spring of
Moses”) are plausible. If the more traditional
site of Sinai at Jebel Musa is maintained, then
identifications of Marah and Elim with Ein
Hawwara and Gharandal are also possible.
Egypt and the Bible
According to the book of Genesis, Egypt was
settled by the descendants of Ham (Genesis
10:6; Mizraim is an ancient name for Egypt).
Abraham spent some time in Egypt (Genesis
12:10-20). So did Jacob (Genesis 46: 1 —
47:12). Joseph was ruler of Egypt (Genesis
41:41-47). The Hebrew nation, in its
childhood, was 400 years in Egypt. Moses
was the adopted son of a queen of Egypt
(Exodus 2:1-10), and, in his preparation to be
Israel’s Lawgiver, he was instructed in all the
wisdom and learning of Egypt. Jeremiah died
in Egypt. From the Captivity until the time of
Christ there was a considerable Jewish
population in Egypt. The Septuagint (the
Greek translation of the Old Testament) was
made in Egypt. Jesus spent part of His
childhood in Egypt. Egypt became an
important early center of Christianity.
Exodus
The 400 Years in Egypt
The Exodus from Egypt
The Ten Commandments
The Tabernacle
By day the Lord went ahead of them in a
pillar of cloud to guide them on their way
and by night in a pillar of fire to give them
light, so that they could travel by day or
night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor
the pillar of fire by night left its place in
front of the people.
— Exodus 13 : 21-22
Moses answered the people, “Do not be
afraid. Stand firm and you will see the
deliverance the Lord will bring you today.
The Egyptians you see today you will never
see again. The Lord will fight for you; you
need only to be still. ’’
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are
you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to
move on. ”
— Exodus 14:13-15
The title of this book comes from the Septuagint,
the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament.
The word means “exit” or “departure.” Exodus is
book two of the Pentateuch (see In the Beginning:
Genesis 1-11 and The Old Testament Canon in the
chapter How We Got the Bible). The traditional
view held by most Bible scholars is that Moses
wrote the bulk of the Pentateuch after Israel’s
exodus from Egypt and during their 40 years of
wandering in the desert.
Exodus gives us insight into God’s nature, and
it also provides a foundational theology as to who
God is, how He is to be worshiped, His laws, His
covenant with Israel, and His overall plan of
redemption. Through the Exodus, His Ten
Commandments, and the laws given in the Book of
the Covenant, we see God’s loving and just
character and we obtain a greater understanding of
the depth of His holiness.
Ex. 1 ISRAEL IN EGYPT
A total of 430 years elapsed between Jacob’s
migration to Egypt and the Exodus (12:40M1).
Genesis ended with the death of Joseph, and
Exodus begins 300 years later with the birth of
Moses. During these centuries the Israelites had
become very numerous (v. 7). At the time of the
Exodus there were 600,000 men above age 20,
besides women and children (Numbers 1:46),
which would total about 3 million Israelites. For
70 persons to grow to this number in 430 years,
they would have had to double about every 25
years, which is entirely possible. (The growth of
the population in the United States in 400 years,
from relatively few to more than a quarter billion,
makes the statement about the growth of the
Israelites credible — even allowing for the fact that
the U.S. population grew in part because of
immigration.)
After the death of Joseph, a change of dynasty
made the Israelites a race of slaves. But the family
records of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, no doubt,
had been carried to Egypt, and through the long
years of slavery the promise that Canaan would
one day be their national home, and that they would
be free, was steadfastly cherished.
Making sun-dried mudbricks. These bricks deteriorated over
time. Baked mudbricks required more labor than other kinds,
but lasted longer and were sometimes used for exterior walls.
Ex. 2 MOSES
Exodus begins the story of Moses. His life and
work are the subject matter of not only the book of
Exodus, but also of Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy. Moses stands out as one of the
greatest — perhaps the greatest — man of the pre-
Christian world. He took a race of slaves and,
under inconceivably trying circumstances, molded
them into a powerful nation that has altered the
whole course of history.
Moses was a Levite — he was of the tribe of
Levi (v. 1). The sister who engineered his rescue
was Miriam (15:20). His father may have been
Amram, his mother Jochebed (6:20), although they
may have been more distant ancestors. And what a
mother! She so thoroughly instilled the traditions of
his people in him in childhood that all the splendor
and temptations of the heathen palace never
eradicated those early impressions. He had the
finest education Egypt could offer, but it did not
turn his head or cause him to lose his childhood
faith.
His 40 Years in the Palace
Moses, as he grew to manhood, is thought to have
been appointed to high office in the government of
Egypt. Josephus says he commanded an army in the
south. He must have attained considerable power,
reputation, and skill; otherwise it is not likely that
he would have undertaken so gigantic a task as the
deliverance of Israel, which (according to Acts
7:25) he had in mind when he intervened in the
Egyptian’s beating of a Hebrew slave (vv. 11-15).
But though conscious of his power, he failed,
because the people were not ready for his
leadership — and neither was Moses himself.
His 40 Years in the Desert
These 40 years, in God’s providence, were part of
Moses’ training. The loneliness and roughness of
the wilderness developed sturdy qualities he could
hardly have acquired in the softness of the palace.
It familiarized him with the region in which he
later led Israel for 40 years.
The center of Midian (v. 15), the country where
Moses went, was on the eastern shore of the Gulf
of Akaba, although the Midianites controlled the
regions west of the gulf and to the north as well. In
Moses’ day they controlled the rich pasture lands
around Sinai.
Moses married a Midianite woman, Zipporah
(v. 21), a daughter of Jethro (who is also called
Reuel; 2:18; 3:1). Jethro, as priest of Midian, must
have been a ruler. The Midianites were also
descendants of Abraham, through Keturah (Genesis
25:2), and must have had traditions of Abraham’s
God. Moses had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer
(18:3-4).
Ex. 3-4 THE BURNING BUSH
After a life of brooding over the sufferings of his
people and the age-old promises of God, the call
to deliver Israel came at last, directly from God,
when Moses was 80 years old. But Moses was no
longer self-confident, as he had been in his younger
years. He was reluctant to go and made all kinds of
excuses. But in the end he went, assured of divine
help and armed with the power to work miracles.
Ex. 5 MOSES’ FIRST DEMAND
Pharaoh was insolent. He ordered the supervisors
to lay even heavier burdens on the Israelites; they
were to make the same number of bricks as before,
but now they also had to find their own straw
(2:10-19). Moses soon lost favor with the
Israelites, who were quick to blame him for the
increased level of oppression. God continued to
press Moses to again approach Pharaoh for their
release and to tell the Israelites that He had not
forgotten His covenant with them.
Ex. 6 THE GENEALOGY OF
MOSES
This is considered an abbreviated genealogy that
mentions only the more prominent ancestors.
According to this genealogy, Moses was the
grandson of Kohath, yet in his day there were
8,600 Kohathites (Numbers 3:28). Thus there is
uncertainty as to the exact translation of v. 20.
Ex. 7 THE FIRST OF THE 10
PLAGUES
The waters of the Nile turned to blood. Pharaoh’s
magicians (Jannes and Jambres, 2 Timothy 3:8)
imitated the miracle on a small scale. Whatever the
nature of the miracle, the fish died and people
could not drink the water.
The Nile was a god to the Egyptians. Without
the Nile, Egypt would be a lifeless desert.
Ex. 8 PLAGUES OF FROGS,
GNATS, AND FLIES
The frog represented Heqt, the Egyptian god of
resurrection. At Moses’ command, frogs swarmed
out of the Nile and filled houses. The magicians
again imitated the miracle, but this time Pharaoh
was convinced and promised to let Israel go. But
he quickly changed his mind.
The 10 Plagues and the Gods
of Egypt
The 10 plagues were aimed at the gods of
Egypt and were designed to give proof of the
power of the God of Israel over the gods of
Egypt. Over and over it is repeated that by
these miracles both Israel and Egyptians
would come to “know that the Lord is God”
(6:7; 7:5, 17; 8:22; 10:2; 14:4, 18). Later, in
the desert, the manna and the quail were
intended to show the same thing (16:6, 12).
Pharaoh’s heart was hardened on his own
accord during the first five plagues. God
hardened his heart during the other five.
Without them, Israel never would have been
delivered, and there would have been no
Hebrew nation.
Plague: 1. Nile turned to blood 7:14-25
God(s): Khnum, the guardian of the Nile
Hopi, the spirit of the Nile
Osiris, the giver of life, whose bloodstream
was the Nile
Plague: 2. Frogs 8:1-15
God(s): Heqt, the god of resurrection, who
also assisted women in childbirth and whose
form was a frog
Plague: 3. Gnats (mosquitoes) 8:16-19
Plague: 4. Flies 8:20-32
Plague: 5. Plague on cattle 9: 1-7
God(s): Hathor, the mother goddess, whose
form was a cow
Apis, the bull god, who was the living
personification of Ptah (the creator god) and
the symbol of fertility
Plague: 6. Boils 9:8-12
God(s): Imhotep, the god of medicine
Plague: 7. Hail 9: 13-35
God(s): Nut, the sky goddess
Isis, the goddess of life
Seth, the protector of crops
Plague: 8. Locusts 10:1-20
God(s): Isis, the goddess of life
Seth, the protector of crops
Plague: 9. Darkness 10:21-29
God(s): Re, Aten, Atum, Horns all of whom
were sun gods of sorts
Plague: 10. Death of firstborn 11:1-12:36
God(s): Pharaoh, who was considered a god
Osiris, the giver of life
— Adapted from John H. Walton, Chronological and Background
Charts of the Old Testament.
The third plague was gnats. Moses hit the dust,
and it became gnats (mosquitoes) on both man and
beast. The magicians tried to imitate this miracle,
but failed — in fact, they were convinced that it was
of God. They ceased their efforts to oppose Moses
and advised Pharaoh to give in.
The fourth plague consisted of swarms of flies
that covered the people and filled the houses of the
Egyptians. But there were no flies on the Israelites.
Still Pharaoh hardened his heart (vv. 15, 32).
God’s purpose was to make Pharaoh repent. But
when a man sets himself against God, even God’s
mercies result in further hardening.
Ex. 9 PLAGUE ON LIVESTOCK;
BOILS; HAIL
The plague on Egypt’s livestock was a terrible
blow at Egyptian gods. The bull was a chief god.
Again there is a distinction between Egyptians and
Israelites: the Egyptians’ livestock died in vast
numbers, but not one of those belonging to
Israelites. “All” in v. 6 refers to the livestock of
the Egyptians that were left in the fields. Moses
gave them until the next day (v. 5) so that God-
fearing Egyptians had time to move their livestock
out of danger. Verses 19-21 refer to livestock that
survived.
The boils, the sixth plague, came on both man
and beast, and even on the magicians, from ashes
which Moses sprinkled into the air.
Before the seventh plague came and hail fell, a
merciful warning was again extended to God-
fearing Egyptians to drive their cattle to cover.
Again there is a distinction between Egyptians and
Israelites: no hail fell in Goshen.
By this time the people of Egypt had become
convinced (10:7). The sudden appearance and
disappearance of the plagues, at the word of
Moses, on such a vast scale, were accepted as
evident miracles from God. But Pharaoh hesitated
because of the immense economic impact the loss
of his slave labor would have — Israelite labor had
contributed greatly to Egypt’s rise to power.
It is not known how long a period the 10
plagues covered. Pharaoh, no doubt, would have
killed Moses had he dared. But with each new
plague, Moses’ prestige went up and up ( 1 1 :3).
Ex. 10 PLAGUES OF LOCUSTS,
DARKNESS
Locusts were one of the worst of the plagues. They
came in vast clouds and would eat every green
thing. At night they would cover the ground in
layers to a depth of four or five inches. When
mashed, the smell would be unbearable. The mere
threat of a locust plague caused Pharaoh’s officials
to beg him to yield (v. 7).
“[The locusts] covered all the ground until it was black. They
devoured all that was left after the hail — everything growing in
the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on
tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.” This description in
Exodus 10:5 is not an exaggeration. A swarm of locusts can
indeed darken the sun and strip an entire area of anything
green in a very short time.
The plague of darkness was a direct blow at
Ra, or Re, Egypt’s sun god. There was midnight
darkness over Egypt for three days, but light where
Israelites dwelt. Pharaoh yielded — but again
changed his mind.
Ex. 11-12 DEATH OF EGYPT’S
FIRSTBORN
At last, the final and most devastating blow fell.
Pharaoh yielded and Israel departed.
The Israelites “borrowed” jewelry and clothes
from the Egyptians (12:35 KJV). The fact is that
they “asked” (NASB, NTV) — these were not loans,
but outright gifts in payment of debts for
accumulated generations of slave labor. God
Himself had commanded the people to ask for
these gifts (3:21-22; 11:2-3), and the Egyptians
were only too glad to comply, for they feared the
God of Moses (12:33) and what He could do to
them. A large part of Egypt’s wealth was thus
transferred to Israel. Some of it was used in the
construction of the tabernacle.
The Beginning of Passover
The lamb, the blood on the doorposts, the death of
the firstborn, deliverance out of a hostile country,
and the celebration of the Feast of Passover
throughout Israel’s history — all were intended by
God to be a grand historical picture of Christ the
Passover Lamb and our deliverance, by His blood,
from a hostile world and from the slavery of sin.
Other Scriptures refer to Jesus as our sacrificial
lamb:
• “A lamb without blemish or defect” (IPeter
1:19)
• “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the
sins of the world!” (John 1 :29)
• “When he saw Jesus passing by, he said
‘Look, the Lamb of God!’ ” (John 1:36)
• “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been
sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7)
• “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been
slain . . (Revelation 5:16)
Unleavened bread was to be eaten during the
Passover Feast as a perpetual reminder of the haste
with which the people left Egypt (12:34).
Ex. 13 THE CONSECRATION OF
THE FIRSTBORN
The Israelites’ firstborn were to be consecrated to
God perpetually, as a reminder of the Israelites’
redemption by the death of Egypt’s firstborn. Jesus
was consecrated to God in accordance with this
law, since he was Mary’s firstborn son (Luke 2:7,
22-30).
The route to Canaan which the Israelites
followed (v. 17) was not the direct route along the
coast of the Mediterranean Sea, since there were
garrisons of Egyptian soldiers stationed along this
route, which also went through the country of the
Philistines. The most feasible route was the longer
but safer way through the wilderness of the Sinai
Peninsula (see What Route Did the Israelites
Follow After the Exodus? in the chapter on The
Exodus from Egypt: Exodus-Deuteronomy).
The pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire
by night (vv. 21-22). As they left Egypt and had to
travel through hostile territory, God took them
under His own care, with this visible sign of His
guidance and protection. It never left them until
they reached the Promised Land, 40 years later
(14:19, 24; 33:9, 10; 40:34-38; Numbers 9:15, 23;
10 : 11 ).
Ex. 14 CROSSING THE RED SEA
The place where they crossed may have been near
the location of the Bitter Lakes, now part of the
Suez Canal. God used a “strong east wind” to dry
up the sea (v. 21). The waters parted and formed a
“wall of water” on either side (15:8; 14:22). This,
as well as the timing of the waters’ return so that
the Israelites were saved and the Egyptians
destroyed, could have been done only by a direct
miraculous act of God. It alarmed the neighboring
nations (15:14-16).
Crossing the Sea
The “tongue” of the Gulf of Suez may have
reached farther north in Moses’ day than it
does today. The sea then would have flowed
north into the depressions known today as the
Bitter Lakes. If a steady wind (v. 21) pushed
the shallow water north into the Bitter Lakes,
it would have lowered the level of the water
so that a land bridge would appear, which is
not an uncommon phenomenon. The waters
on the north and the south then were a “wall”
or “defense.” There is no need to assume
perpendicular heaps of water defying gravity
— although there is no question that God
could have done exactly that. The Egyptian
pursuit implies that the enemy saw no more
than a strange, but not completely unnatural
phenomenon. They could not attack from
either flank. They followed through the
exposed sea mud and were caught and
tangled by the returning tide (v. 25) following
the relaxed pressure of the wind.
Ex. 15 THE SONG OF MOSES
This song seems to prefigure the mightier works
for which the redeemed will sing praises to God
through endless ages of eternity. The deliverance
out of Egypt under Moses was so similar to what
the deliverance of the church out of the world at
the time of the end will be, that one of the
triumphant songs of the redeemed in the book of
Revelation is called “the Song of Moses and the
Lamb” (Revelation 15:3).
Ex. 16 MANNA AND QUAIL
After one month of traveling, the hardships of
desert life began to affect the Israelites’
dispositions. They began to complain, thinking
about what they had in Egypt, rather than about
what God would give them in the Promised Land
(vv. 2-3).
Manna was a small round flake used for
making bread. It tasted, it is said, like wafers made
with honey (v. 31). It was either a direct creation
or a natural product miraculously multiplied. It fell
with the dew each night and looked like coriander
seed. The manna was ground in mills or beat in
mortars, then boiled in pots, and cakes were made
of it. Each person was allowed an omer (about two
quarts or two liters) daily. On the sixth day there
was always enough to last over the Sabbath. The
manna began one month after they left Egypt and
was given daily throughout the 40 years in the
wilderness until they crossed the Jordan. Then it
ceased as suddenly as it began (Numbers 11:6-9;
Joshua 5:12). Jesus regarded manna as a
foreshadowing of Himself (John 6:3 1-58).
Quail (v. 13) are mentioned only twice: here
and a year later, after Israel had left Mount Sinai
(Numbers 11:31-34). The people had great herds
of cattle (Exodus 12:38), which they could use
only sparingly as food. In Egypt the Israelites had
eaten mostly fish instead of red meat.
Ex. 17 WATER FROM THE ROCK
Shortly before this, Moses had made the waters of
Marah sweet (15:25). Here, in Rephidim, he
produces water out of a rock. Later he performs a
similar miracle at Meribah (Numbers 20:1-13);
however, he performs it in a way not pleasing to
God. God rebukes Moses and Aaron and states that
they will never enter the Promised Land. The battle
with Amalek (vv. 8-15) is the first attempt, outside
of Egypt, to interfere with Israel’s march to
Canaan. As a result, God commanded that the
Amalekites be exterminated (v. 14; Deuteronomy
25:17-19).
Mount Sinai
Also called Horeb. The Peninsula of Sinai is
triangular in shape, situated between two
arms of the Red Sea. The west shore is
about 180 miles long; the east shore about
130; and the north border line about 150. The
northern part of the peninsula is desert; the
southern part is a “great cluster of rugged
chaotic mountains.”
The region was probably named for Sin, the
Babylonian moon god. It was early known for
its mines of copper, iron, ochre, and precious
stones. Long before the days of Abraham, the
kings of the East had made a road around the
north and west fringes of the Arabian Desert
to the Sinai region.
There is some debate as to which mountain in
the Sinai Peninsula is Mount Sinai. The two
most likely possibilities are Ras es-Safsafeh
and Jebel Musa, both of which are located on
a granite ridge of about three miles. Ras es-
Safsafeh (6,643 ft.) is on the northern edge,
Jebel Musa (7,497 ft.) on the southern edge.
Tradition and most modern scholars accept
Jebel Musa as Mount Sinai; others prefer Ras
es-Safsafeh because there is a considerable
plain at the foot of the mountain where the
Israelites could have camped (see Exodus
20:18). Another possible (though less likely)
candidate is Jebel Sin Bisher, about 50 miles
north-northwest of Jebel Musa (see The
identification of Mount Sinai in the chapter on
The Exodus from Egypt: Exodus-
Deuteronomy).
At the foot of Jebel Musa is St. Catherine’s
monastery, where Friedrich Tischendorf
discovered the famous 4th-century manuscript
of the Greek Bible known as the Codex
Sinaiticus (see The Codex Sinaiticus in section
2, How the Text of the Bible was Preserved).
For a people who had never known anything but the flat
country of Goshen and the Nile delta, Mount Sinai itself must
have been imposing indeed. And it is little wonder that the
people were terrified when the Lord appeared:
“On the morning of the third day there was thunder and
lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a
very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with
God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount
Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord
descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it
like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled
violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and
louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God
answered him” (Exodus 19:16-19).
Ex. 18 JETHRO’S ADVICE
Moses was inspired in a degree given to few men,
yet it was through the counsel of this friendly
Midianite prince, his father-in-law, that he came to
a more efficient organization of the people. God
uses human advice to help even the great!
Ex. 19 GOD’S VOICE ON MOUNT
SINAI
They were at Mount Sinai about 1 1 months (v. 1 ;
Numbers 10:11). In a terrific thunderstorm,
accompanied by earthquakes and supernatural
trumpet blasts, and the mountain capped with
terrifying flames, God spoke the Ten
Commandments and gave the Law.
Five hundred years later, at this same mountain,
the prophet Elijah was given a hint that God’s
work would be accomplished, not by means of fire
and earthquake, but by the still, small voice, the
“gentle whisper” of God’s message (1 Kings
19:11-12).
Ex. 20 THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS
These Commandments were afterward engraved on
both sides of two tablets of stone, “inscribed by
the finger of God.” “The tablets were the work of
God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved
on the tablets” (31:18; 32:15-16). They were kept
for centuries in the ark of the covenant (see The
Most Holy Place in the chapter on Exodus). It is
thought that they may have been destroyed in the
destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (see
Deportation of Judah by Babylon. 605 B.c. in the
chapter on 2 Kings).
The Ten Commandments were the basis of
Hebrew law. Four of them have to do with our
attitude toward God; six, with our attitude toward
fellow human beings. Jesus condensed them into
two: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.” and
“Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Matthew
22:37-39; see Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus
19:18).
“I am the Lord your God You shall
have no other gods before me. You shall
not make for yourself an idol. . . . You
shall not misuse the name of the Lord
your God. . . . Remember the Sabbath
day by keeping it holy. . . . Honor your
father and your mother. . . . You shall
not murder. You shall not commit
adultery. You shall not steal. You shall
not give false testimony against your
neighbor. You shall not covet ....
anything that belongs to your neighbor. ”
— Exodus 20:2-17
Reverence for God is the basis of the Ten
Commandments. Jesus indicated that He
considered it the most basic and essential quality
in man’s approach to God and made it the first
petition in the Lord’s Prayer: “Hallowed be your
name.” It is surprising how many people, in their
ordinary conversation, continually blaspheme the
name of God and use it in such a light and trivial
way. It is even more surprising how many
preachers and Christians use God’s name with a
facile familiarity that lacks any reverence or awe,
as if they were God’s equals.
Ex. 21-24 THE BOOK OF THE
COVENANT
After the Ten Commandments, this was the first
installment of the Law for the Hebrew nation.
These laws were written in a book. Then the
covenant that pledged to obey the Law was sealed
with blood (24:4, 7-8).
The laws cover every aspect of daily life, from
kindness toward widows and orphans to the death
penalty for murder to hospitality toward strangers.
Although many of the specific, individual laws no
longer apply to us, the principles behind them most
certainly do. Fairness, justice, and mercy are the
foundation of Israel’s Law — which becomes very
clear when we compare them with the laws of the
nations around Israel.
Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s
mil k (23:19): A number of explanations have been
suggested for this unusual command; it may be a
warning against adopting a pagan, Canaanite ritual.
Ex. 25-31 DIRECTIONS FOR
THE TABERNACLE
God Himself gave the pattern in great detail
(25:9). It is recorded twice: first in these chapters,
where God explains how it is to be made; then in
chapters 35-40, where the details are repeated to
indicate that this is exactly how it had been built —
according to God’s instructions. This repetition
strikes us as redundant, but to the Hebrew ear it
reflected the importance and solemnity of the
building process. (See also Numbers 7, where the
same list of gifts is repeated 12 times!)
The tabernacle was a “likeness” of something,
a “copy and shadow” of heavenly things (Hebrews
8:5). It had special meaning to the Hebrew nation;
yet it was a “pattern of things to come” (see
Hebrews 9-10).
The tabernacle and, later, the temple, which
was built by King Solomon based on the pattern of
the tabernacle, were the center of Jewish national
life. Of direct divine origin, the tabernacle was an
immensely important representation of certain
ideas God wished to impress on mankind,
foreshadowing many teachings of the Christian
faith.
(For a more detailed description of the
tabernacle, see below under chapters 35-40.)
Ex. 32-33 THE GOLDEN CALF
The bull, the principal god of Egypt called Apis,
later also would become the god of the Ten Tribes
(1 Kings 12:28). This pitiful apostasy, so soon
after God had thundered from the mountain, “You
shall have no other gods before me,” and after the
marvelous miracles in Egypt, indicates the depths
to which the Israelites had sunk in Egyptian
idolatry. It was a crisis, calling for immediate
discipline, and the punishment was swift and
severe.
The wood used in the tabernacle was acacia. The acacia is
the only tree that grows in desert regions and produces wood
that can be used in building. Because of the dry and windy
climate, the trees grow very slowly, and it takes many years
for them to reach their maximum height of 16 to 25 feet. This
makes acacia wood durable — it is harder than oak and not
easily damaged by insects. Acacia wood has a beautiful
orange-red color, which makes it eminently suitable for
furniture and inlay work. In Egypt the wood was used in the
making of sarcophagi.
Moses’ willingness to be “blotted out of God’s
book” for the people’s sake shows the grandeur of
his character (32:31-32).
i l
Ex. 34 MOSES AGAIN ON THE
MOUNTAIN
The first time, Moses had been on the mountain for
40 days and nights (24:18). He now went back for
another 40 days and nights (vv. 2, 28). The first
time, he had received the two tablets and the
specifications for the tabernacle. Now he went to
receive two new tablets to replace the originals he
had broken earlier (32: 19).
Moses’ “face was radiant” (vv. 29, 35)
because he had been in the presence of God. So
Jesus’ face “did shine as the sun” when he was
transfigured (Matthew 17:2).
Four-horned altar. This is a replica of an altar found at
Beersheba. The symbolism of the horns is not clear. However,
fugitives (except those guilty of intentional murder, 1 Kings
2:28-32) could find asylum by grasping the horns of the altar
in an appeal to God’s mercy. Cutting off the horns of an altar
made it useless for religious purposes (Amos 3:14).
Ex. 35-40 THE TABERNACLE
BUILT
The tabernacle, or Tent of Meeting, was a portable
sanctuary that served as a place of worship for the
Israelites from the time of the wilderness
wanderings until the building of the temple by
Solomon. It was where God dwelt with the
Israelites. The actual structure was only 15 feet tall
— less than the height of a two-story house. But in
the desert it was the highest structure in the camp
of the Israelites and rose above the sea of tents as
the constant reminder of God’s presence at the
center of the nation.
The Courtyard
The enclosure (“courtyard”) in which the
tabernacle itself stood was 50 x 25 yards, or
slightly less than one quarter the size of a football
field (100 x 53.33 yards). The walls were made of
brass posts with silver hooks, over which linen
curtains were hung. The entrance, which was on
the east, was 10 yards wide and had colorful
curtains of blue and scarlet linen.
The bronze altar. The first thing one saw
when entering the courtyard was a large bronze
altar, the altar of burnt offering, where the animals
(or portions of the animals) brought to the
tabernacle by the Israelites were burnt. The altar
was 7 1/2 feet square and 4 1/2 feet high. It was
hollow, made of wood with brass overlay, and
with grating inside, halfway up from the bottom.
The wood was laid on top of the grate, and the
animals on top of the wood. In the hollow area
below the grate, ashes and other remains were
collected, while it also provided access for oxygen
from below to keep the fire burning.
The fire in the altar was to be kept burning day
and night (Leviticus 6:9); it was kindled by fire
from the Lord Himself (Leviticus 9:24). The smell
associated with the tabernacle was not the sweet
smell of incense, but the smell of fire and death — a
continual reminder that human beings have no
access to God except as sinners redeemed and set
free by another’s death: in the Old Testament the
death of animals, in the New Testament the death of
Christ.
The bronze basin. The second item in the
courtyard, closer to the tabernacle itself, was a
bronze basin for washing. Aaron and all priests
had to wash their hands and feet in the water
before bringing a sacrifice to the altar and before
entering the tabernacle. It symbolized cleansing
from sin and may have foreshadowed Christian
baptism It represented the need for purification
before approaching the Lord. New Testament
Christians have been purified and cleansed by the
shed blood of Jesus.
The Tabernacle
The tabernacle itself consisted of two rooms. The
first room, the Holy Place, was 15 feet high and
wide and 30 feet long. The second room, the Most
Holy Place, was exactly half as large: it was a
cube measuring 15x15x15 feet.
A tent covered the tabernacle, consisting of
three layers of coverings. The first was made of
goat’s hair cloth. Over it was a covering of red
leather made of ram’s skins. The final covering
was badger skin (or possibly seal or porpoise
skin).
There was a clear progression in the
arrangement of the courtyard and the tabernacle.
Israelites could bring their sacrifices to the altar in
the courtyard, but beyond the altar only the priests
could go and enter the Holy Place (after washing
their hands and feet). But no one could enter the
Most Holy Place, the place of God’s Presence,
except the high priest and only once a year, on the
Great Day of Atonement (see article on The
Annual Day of Atonement in the chapter on
Leviticus).
The Holy Place
The first thing that must have struck the priests
entering the Holy Place was how different it
smelled. The acrid smells from the altar of burnt
offering were left behind, and the sweet smell of
incense filled this room
The incense altar. The incense altar was
small, only 3 feet high and 18 inches square.
Incense was burned on the altar, morning and
evening (30:8). Its smoke rising into the sky
symbolized prayer — daily, regular prayer (see also
Revelation 8:3-5).
The lampstand. There were no windows in the
tabernacle, but the coverings may have let in some
light, since the lampstand was to be lit at twilight
and to be kept burning from evening until morning
(27:21; 30:7-8). Made of pure gold, it was 5 feet
high and 3 1/2 feet across the top. The shape of the
lampstand, with its seven lamps, is still a common
symbol in Judaism today: the menorah.
The lighted lamp symbolizes God’s Word
(Psalms 105; 119; 2 Peter 1:19) or God’s guidance
(2 Samuel 22:29; Psalm 18:28).
The lampstands of Solomon’s temple were
patterned after this lampstand (which may actually
have been used in the temple). They were no doubt
among the treasures taken to Babylon and
afterward returned (Ezekiel 1:7).
The lampstand in Herod’s temple, in Jesus’
day, may have been one of these lampstands. It was
taken to Rome when the temple was destroyed in
a.d. 70 and is represented on the Arch of Titus (see
photo of The Arch of Titus ). Tradition says that the
lampstand was later “respectfully deposited in the
Christian church at Jerusalem” in a.d. 533, but
nothing further is known of it.
The table. Finally, there was a table, 27 inches
high, 18 inches wide, and 3 feet long. On this table
12 loaves of bread were placed, one for each of
the 12 tribes of Israel. The loaves were replaced
every week They represented Israel’s gratitude for
God’s provisions.
The Most Holy Place
The Most Holy Place was the place of the
presence of God. It was separated from the Holy
Place by what must have been a superbly beautiful
curtain, in blue, purple, and scarlet, embroidered
with cherubim.
Solomon’s temple, and later Herod’s temple,
were patterned after the tabernacle, and the Holy
Place and the Most Holy Place were still
separated by a curtain, even though the structure
itself was made of stone and wood. The curtain of
the temple was torn from top to bottom when
Christ died (Matthew 27:5 1), signifying that, at that
moment, the door to God’s presence was open to
all.
Only one item stood in the Most Holy Place:
the ark of the covenant. It was a chest made of
acacia wood and overlaid with pure gold. It
measured 45 x 27 x 27 inches. The lid of the ark,
made of solid gold, was called the “atonement
cover” (KJX mercy seat). At each end of the cover
stood a cherub, made of one piece with the
atonement cover. The cherubim faced each other,
their wings spread out, and looked down toward
the atonement cover. We can only speculate exactly
how they may have looked.
Inside the ark were four items: the two stone
tablets on which Moses had received the Ten
Commandments, a pot of manna, and Aaron’ staff
(Numbers 17:1-11). These were a continual
reminder of what was most important: God’s
covenant with His people (the two tablets), His
gracious material provisions (the manna), and His
provision of a way to Him through the priesthood,
and specifically through the high priest (the staff;
see also Hebrews 8).
The ark of the covenant was probably lost in
the Babylonian captivity. In Revelation 11:19, John
saw the ark “in the temple.” But that was in a
vision, certainly not meaning that the actual,
material ark was there; for in heaven there will be
“no temple” (Revelation 2 1:22).
This overview of the tabernacle shows the tent of meeting
inside the courtyard. The smoke of the sacrificial fire rose, and
the cloud of the glory of God descended and filled the dwelling.
In this way the presence of the Lord Most High was revealed to
His people.
Constructed in accordance with the plans of God, the front
part (the Holy Place) of this gold-covered structure was twice
as long as the back part (the Holy of Holies).
Leviticus
Laws Concerning Sacrifices, the
Priesthood, and Sacred Feasts
Various Laws
“I am the Lord who brought you up out of
Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy,
because I am holy. ”
— Leviticus 11:45
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge
against one of your people, but love your
neighbor as yourself I am the Lord. ”
— Leviticus 19:18
The title of this book comes from the Septuagint,
the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament.
The word Leviticus means “about, or relating to,
the Levites.”
The Levites are all those who belong to the
tribe of Levi, one of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Because God spared the firstborn of Israel in the
last plague that came over Egypt (Exodus 11:4-
12:13), all firstborn sons and firstborn animals
belonged to God. The animals were sacrificed
while the men were redeemed. To be redeemed,
the family paid a price to the priest instead of
giving their firstborn over to the service of the
temple. God appointed the Levites to take the place
of the firstborn to serve God. One clan or family of
the Levites, the family of Aaron, was set apart to
be priests. The rest of the Levites were to be
assistants to the priests. Their duties were the care
of the tabernacle, and later the care of the temple;
and to be teachers, scribes, musicians, officers,
and judges. (See on 1 Chronicles 23.)
The tribe of Levi was the only tribe that did not
get its own land after the Israelites conquered
Canaan; instead, they received 48 cities, scattered
throughout the country (Numbers 35:7; Joshua
21:19). Since they did not receive land, they could
not support themselves; they were supported by the
tithes of the rest of Israel.
The book of Leviticus contains the bulk of the
system of laws under which the Hebrew nation
lived, laws that were administered by the Levitical
priesthood. These laws were given mostly at
Mount Sinai, with additions, repetitions, and
explanations throughout the desert wanderings.
Lev. 1-7 VARIOUS KINDS OF
OFFERINGS
Old Testament Sacrifices
Sacrifice
OT References Elements
Purpose
Burnt offering
Lev 1 ; 6:8— 1 3:
8:18-21; 16:24
Bull. ram. or male bird
(dove or young pigeon
for the poor); wholly
consumed; no dofcct
Voluntary act of wor-
ship; atonement for
unintentional sin in
goneral; expression of
devotion, commitment
and complete surrender
to God
Crain offering
Lev 2; 6: 14-23
Grain, fine flour, olive
oil. Incense, baked bread
(cakes or wafers), salt;
no yeast or honey;
accompanied burnt
offering and fellowship
offoring (along with
drink offering)
Voluntary act of wor-
ship; recognition of
God's goodness and
provisions; devotion to
God
Fellowship
offering
Lev 3; 7:1 1-34
Any animal without
defect from herd or
flock; varioty of breads
Voluntary act of wor-
ship; thanksgiving and
fellowship (included a
communal meal)
Sin offering
Lev 4: 1-5: 13;
6:24-30;
8:14-17;
16:3-22
1 . Young bull; for high
priest and congrega-
tion
2. Male goat; for leader
3. Female goat or lamb:
for common person
4. Dove or pigeon: for
the poor
5. Tend) of an ephah of
fine flour: for the
very poor
Mandatory atonoment
for specific uninten-
tional sin; confession of
sin; forgiveness of sin;
cleansing from defile-
ment
Guilt offering
Lev 5:14-6:7;
7:1-6
Ram or lamb
Mandatory atonemont
for unintentional sin
requiring restitution;
cleansing from defile-
ment; make restitution;
pay 20% fine
— From The NIV Study Bible. Used by permission.
I I
Lev. 8-9 THE CONSECRATION
OF AARON
Before the time of Moses, sacrifices were offered
by heads of families. But now that the nation is
organized, a place is set apart for sacrifice, a ritual
is prescribed, and a hereditary priesthood is
created in a solemn ceremony. Aaron was to be
high priest, and he was to be succeeded by his
firstborn son. The priesthood was maintained by
tithes (one-tenth of a family’s income, whether
money, livestock, or produce) and parts of some
sacrifices. They received 13 cities (Joshua 21:13-
19).
The high priest’s garments. Every detail had
been specified by God (Exodus 28). A robe of
blue, with bells at the bottom.
The ephod, which was a sort of cape or
sleeveless vestment, consisting of two pieces
joined on the shoulders, that hung one at the front
and one on the back of the high priest, with an onyx
stone on each shoulder, each bearing six names of
the tribes: made of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and
fine linen.
The breastplate, about 10 inches square, of
gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen, double,
open at the top, fastened with gold chains to the
Ephod, adorned with 12 precious stones, each
stone bearing the name of a tribe. The breastplate
contained the Urim and Thummim, which were
used to learn the will of God; we don’t know
exactly what they were, but they were used to cast
lots.
The Divine Origin of the
Sacrificial System
God placed the system of sacrifices at the
very center and heart of Jewish national life.
Whatever its immediate applications and
implications may have been to the Jews, the
unceasing sacrifice of animals and the never-
ending glow of altar fires were without doubt
designed by God to burn into the
consciousness of the people of Israel a sense
of their deep sinfulness. They were also, for
more than a millennium, a picture that pointed
forward to the coming sacrifice of Christ on
the cross. The Levitical priesthood was
divinely ordained to be the mediator between
God and the Hebrew nation through the
bringing of animal sacrifices. But those
sacrifices were fulfilled in Christ. Animal
sacrifices are no longer necessary. Christ
Himself is our Great High Priest, the only
Mediator between God and humanity, as
Hebrews 8-10 makes very clear. Thus Christ
is both our Sacrifice and our High Priest, our
Mediator.
Lev. 10 NADAB AND ABIHU
The swift and terrible punishment on Nadab and
Abihu was a warning against highhanded treatment
of God’s ordinances. It is also a warning to us and
to church leaders not to distort the Gospel of Christ
with all kinds of human additions and traditions.
Lev. 11 CLEAN AND UNCLEAN
ANIMALS
Before the Flood there was a distinction between
clean and unclean animals (Genesis 7:2). Through
Moses this distinction acquired the force of divine
law. It was based partly on the wholesomeness of
a particular kind of animal as food, and partly on
religious considerations, designed to serve as one
of the marks of separation of Israel from other
nations. Jesus abrogated the distinction (Mark
7:19), making all meats clean (see also Acts 10:9—
16).
Lev. 12 PURIFICATION OF
MOTHERS AFTER CHILDBIRTH
The uncleanness of mothers did not result from the
birth but from the bleeding. There is no clear
reason why the period of separation was 40 days if
the baby was a boy, 80 days if it was a girl.
Lev. 13-14 THE TEST FOR SKIN
DISEASES
These regulations were for the purpose of
controlling the spread of infectious skin diseases,
of which the most loathsome and dreaded was
leprosy. The word translated “leprosy” in the KJV
has a range of meanings, including leprosy, skin
disease, and even mildew. Primitive as this
approach may seem to us, these simple measures
undoubtedly saved many lives.
Lev. 15 CEREMONIAL
UNCLEANNESS
The elaborate system of specifications as to how a
person could become ceremonially unclean and
what had to be done about it was, it seems,
designed to promote personal physical cleanliness
(and thus help prevent illness) as well as a
continual recognition of God’s involvement in all
areas of life.
“Love Your Neighbor as
Yourself”
This injunction (19:18) is one of the highlights
of the Mosaic Law. It is the second great
commandment Jesus quoted (Matthew 22:39;
the first great commandment — Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind — is found in
Deuteronomy 6:5). The law instructed the
people to show great consideration to the
poor. Wages were to be paid day by day. No
interest was to be charged (“usury” in the KJV
refers to interest of any kind). Loans and gifts
were to be made to the needy. A portion of
the harvest was to be left in the fields for the
poor. All through the Old Testament,
unceasing emphasis is placed on kindness to
widows, orphans, and strangers. The weak
and the poor are everyone’s responsibility.
Lev. 16 THE ANNUAL DAY OF
ATONEMENT
The annual Day of Atonement (still celebrated in
Judaism today in modified form and known by its
Hebrew name, YomKippur) fell on the 10th day of
the seventh month (the month Tishri, see diagram of
the Jewish Calendar ), ft was the most solemn day
of the year. Each time, the removal of sin was only
for one year (Hebrews 10:3), but it pointed
forward to its eternal removal (Zechariah 3:4, 8-9;
13:1; Hebrews 10:14).
After the sacrificial goat had been offered, the
high priest laid his hands on the head of the
scapegoat, confessing over him the sins of the
people. The goat was then sent away into the
wilderness, bearing away with it the sins of the
people. This ceremony was one of God’s historical
foreshadowings of the coming atonement for human
sin by the death of Christ.
Lev. 17 THE MANNER OF
SACRIFICE
The Law required the presentation of animals for
sacrifice at the door of the tabernacle. The eating
of blood was strictly forbidden (3:17; 7:26-27;
17:10-16; Genesis 9:4; Deuteronomy 12:16, 23-
25), and still is (Acts 15:29). One reason is that
blood is a symbol of life and as such must be
treated with respect. To this day, in orthodox
Judaism, any animal destined for human
consumption must be slaughtered according to very
strict regulations and under rabbinic supervision to
ensure that all the blood has drained out of the
meat. Only then can the meat be sold as kosher.
Lev. 18 CANAAN ITE
ABOMINATIONS
The reason that some of these things, such as
incest, sodomy, and sexual relations with animals,
are even mentioned is that they were common
practice among Israel’s neighbors.
Lev. 19-20 MISCELLANEOUS
LAWS
These chapters contain a number of miscellaneous
laws, ranging from the Sabbath, to sorcery, to
kindness to strangers. The diversity of these laws
shows that God is interested in all aspects of life.
He did not give laws only to keep Israel from
doing what was wrong, but also to tell Israel what
it meant to live as the nation chosen by God and as
people who loved God.
Concubinage, polygamy, divorce, and slavery
were allowed but greatly restricted (19:20; Exodus
21:2—11; Deuteronomy 21:15; 24:1-4). Moses’
Law lifted marriage to a far higher level than
existed in surrounding nations. Slavery was
tempered by humane considerations; it never
existed on a large scale among the Jews, nor with
such cruelties as were prevalent in Egypt, Assyria,
Greece, Rome, and other nations. An Israelite
could not be a slave forever (see on Leviticus 25).
Capital Punishment in the
Old Testament
Capital punishment was required for a number
of offenses. (The ordinary form of capital
punishment prescribed by Hebrew law was
stoning.)
• Murder (Genesis 9:6; Exodus 21:12;
Deuteronomy 19:11-13)
• Kidnapping (Exodus 21:16; Deuteronomy
24:7)
• Death by negligence (Exodus 21:28-29)
• Hitting or cursing a parent (Exodus
21:15-17; Leviticus 20:9; Deuteronomy
21:18-21)
• Idolatry (Leviticus 20:1-5; Deuteronomy
13; 17:2-5)
• Sorcery (Exodus 22:18)
• False prophecy (Deuteronomy 18:10-11,
20 )
• Blasphemy (Leviticus 24:15-16)
• Profaning the Sabbath (Exodus 31 : 1 4)
• Adultery (Leviticus 21:10; Deuteronomy
22 : 22 )
• Rape (Deuteronomy 22:23-27)
• Promiscuity (Deuteronomy 22: 1 3-21 )
• Sodomy (Leviticus 20:13)
• Bestiality (Leviticus 20:15-16)
• Incestuous marriages (Leviticus 20:11-
12, 14)
The severity of the punishment was not
arbitrary. These sins were not only offenses
against God and fellow human beings — they
undermined and weakened the social fabric
and in the long run put the continued existence
of the people of God — the nation of Israel — in
jeopardy.
i i
Lev. 21-22 PRIESTS AND
SACRIFICES
These chapters are an elaboration on the
provisions of chapters 1-9. Priests must be without
physical defect and may marry only a virgin.
Sacrificial animals must also be without defect and
at least eight days old.
Lev. 23-24 FEASTS, LAWS
CONCERNING THE
TABERNACLE, BLASPHEMY
For a description of the feasts of Israel, see
comments on Deuteronomy 16.
The lamp in the tabernacle was to burn
perpetually. The bread placed before the Lord
(Kjy showbread) was to be changed each
Sabbath. Blasphemy was to be punished with
death.
An eye for an eye (24:19-21). This
legislation was not intended to give permission for
revenge, but rather the opposite: it severely limited
revenge or retaliation to what was just, instead of
allowing a cycle of retaliation and counter-
retaliation to spin out of control (see on Matthew
5:38 and Luke 6:27).
These Laws Were the Laws
of God
Some of the laws in the Pentateuch are
similar to the laws of Hammurabi (see The
Time of the Patriarchs: Genesis 12-50 ). with
which Moses no doubt was well-acquainted.
And though Moses may have been influenced
by his Egyptian training and by Babylonian
tradition, yet over and over he repeats, “This
is what the Lord says!” These laws were not
dreamed up by Moses or by a legal think-
tank, or arrived at democratically — they were
given to Israel by God Himself.
Some of these laws may seem severe to us.
But if we could transport ourselves back to
Moses’ world and time, they probably would
not seem severe enough. On the whole, the
“Law of Moses,” in its insistence on personal
morality and personal equality, and in its
consideration for old and young, for slave and
enemy, for animals and health and food, was
far purer, more rational, humane, and
democratic than anything else in ancient
legislation.
Moses’ Law was designed by God as a
schoolmaster to bring us to Christ (Galatians
3:24 KJV), since it showed that no one was
able to fully keep the Law. And some of the
provisions of the Law were accommodations,
“because your hearts were hard” (Matthew
19:8).
Ownership of Land
The land of Canaan was divided among the
12 tribes when the Israelites entered Canaan
under Joshua (Joshua 13-21), and the land of
each tribe was divided among the families.
With certain exceptions, the land could not be
sold in perpetuity out of the families.
Any sale of land amounted to a lease that
expired in the Year of Jubilee, when it would
be returned to the original family. This
arrangement, if implemented, provided for
social stability and prevented to a large extent
the formation of a wealthy, landed upper class
and a dispossessed underclass.
Lev. 25 THE SABBATH YEAR
AND THE YEAR OF JUBILEE
Every seventh year was a Sabbath year. The land
was to lie fallow. No sowing, no reaping, no
pruning of vineyards. Spontaneous produce was to
be left for the poor and the temporary resident
(KJV sojourner). God promised enough in the sixth
year to meet the needs of the seventh year. Debts of
fellow Jews were to be canceled.
Every 50th year was a Year of Jubilee. It
followed the seventh Sabbath Year, so that two
years of rest would come together. It began on the
Day of Atonement. All debts were canceled,
slaves of Israelite origin were set free, and lands
that had been sold were returned. (This was
intended to ensure that a family’s land would
remain in the family in perpetuity.) Jesus seemed to
regard the Year of Jubilee as a sort of picture of
the rest He came to proclaim for God’s people
(Leviticus 25:10; Luke 4:19).
Lev. 26 OBEDIENCE OR
DISOBEDIENCE
This chapter of magnificent promises and frightful
warnings is, like Deuteronomy 28, one of the great
chapters of the Bible.
Lev. 27 VOWS AND TITHES
Vows were a voluntary promise to God to perform
some service or do something pleasing to Him in
return for some hoped benefits. A vow had to be
spoken to be binding (Deuteronomy 23:23).
Israelites made special vows by promising or
dedicating persons, animals, houses, family land,
or land they had purchased to the service of the
temple. In most cases, however, an equivalent
value or price was paid to the priest for the person
or thing being dedicated. When the price had been
paid, the person or thing was said to have been
redeemed.
“If you follow my decrees and are
careful to obey my commands, I will
send you rain in its season, and the
ground will yield its crops and the trees
of the field their fruit. Your threshing will
continue until grape harvest and the
grape harvest will continue until planting,
and you will eat all the food you want
and live in safety in your land. I will
grant peace in the land, and you will lie
down and no one will make you afraid. ”
— Leviticus 26:3-6
This idea of redemption is carried forward into
the New Testament in Galatians 3:13, where Christ
is said to have redeemed us “from the curse of the
law by becoming a curse for us.” In 1 Corinthians
6:19-20, Paul teaches the early Christians, “You
are not your own; your were bought at a price.”
One-tenth of the produce of the land and of the
increase of flocks and herds was to be given to
God; this is called the tithe (Genesis 14:20; 28:22;
Leviticus 27:30-32; Numbers 18:21-28;
Deuteronomy 12:5-6, 11, 17-18; 14:23, 28-29;
26:12; the word tithe is derived from the Old
English word for tenth).
The Number Seven in the
Law of M oses
The number 7 played a significant symbolic
role in the Mosaic Law.
• Every 7th day was a Sabbath.
• Every 7th year was a Sabbath year.
• Every 7th Sabbath year (7 x 7) was
followed by a Year of Jubilee.
• Every 7th month was especially holy, with
three feasts.
• There were 7 weeks between Passover
and Pentecost.
• The Passover Feast lasted 7 days.
• The Feast of Tabernacles lasted 7 days.
• At the Passover, 14 lambs (twice 7) were
offered daily.
• At the Feast of Tabernacles, 14 lambs
(twice 7), and 70 bullocks were offered
daily.
• At Pentecost, 7 lambs were offered.
(See sidebar The Number Seven in Revelation
in the chapter on Revelation)
Three tithes are mentioned in the Old
Testament: the Levitical tithe, the festival tithe, and
every third year the tithe for the poor. Some think
there was only one tithe that was used partly for
festivals and every third year partly for the poor.
Others think that the festival tithe was taken out of
the nine-tenths left after the Levitical tithe had been
paid.
The tithe was in use long before the days of
Moses. Abraham and Jacob paid tithes. Among the
Jews the tithe was for the support of the Levites,
who functioned both as civil officials and in
religious service (see on 1 Chronicles 23).
God claimed as His own not only the tithes, but
also the firstborn sons of all families (in place of
whom He accepted the tribe of Levi), the firstborn
of all flocks and herds, and firstfruits of the field.
The firstfruits of the harvest were to be offered at
Passover, and no part of the new crop could be
used until this had been done (Leviticus 23:14).
The first crop of a young orchard (the fourth year)
was to be given to God in its entirety, and no fruit
of the orchard could be used until this was done.
The clear lesson is: Put God first in life.
Numbers
The 40 Years in the Desert
Israel’s Journey to the Promised Land
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord
make his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you; the Lord turn his face
toward you and give you peace. ”
— Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord s anger burned against Israel and
he made them wander in the desert forty
years, until the whole generation of those
who had done evil in his sight was gone.
— Numbers 32:13
Numbers begins with the Lord organizing Israel
into an army en route to establish God’s kingdom
in the Promised Land. Throughout the journey we
see the Israelites’ rebellion as well as God’s anger
against their disobedience. But despite God’s
judgment, He is faithful in bringing Israel into the
land of promise. We see God’s grace renewed time
and time again.
Num. 1 THE CENSUS
This census, taken at Mount Sinai, showed 603,550
males above the age of 20, not including Levites
(vv. 45-47). Another census, taken 38 years later,
showed 601,730 males above 20 (see on chapter
26).
Num. 2-4 THE ORGANIZATION
OF THE CAMP
Every detail was assigned with military precision.
This was necessary in handling so vast a crowd of
people. The tribes were arranged in specific
locations around the tabernacle when they camped,
and they also had a specific marching order when
they traveled. The arrangement (see diagram that
follows) allowed for an orderly transition from
camping to traveling.
Judah and the eastern tribes led the march. The
tabernacle was protected by the southern and
western tribes to the south and north respectively,
while the northern tribes brought up the rear.
Encampment of the Tribes of Israel
Numbers 2: 1 -3 1 Numbers 1 0: 1 1 -33
Num. 5-6 MISCELLANEOUS
LAWS
What stands out in these chapters is the beautiful
priestly blessing (6:24-26). The Hebrew word
shalorn does not mean quite the same as our word
“peace.” It is not merely absence of war or co nf lict
(although it includes that) or a peaceful feeling.
Rather, it means wholeness, well-being, harmony.
Num. 7-9 PREPARATION FOR
THE JOURNEY
The offerings of the leaders of the 12 tribes (chap.
7) are all exactly the same. To us, repeating the
same list 12 times seems redundant and boring, but
to the Hebrew mind it emphasizes the solemnity
and seriousness of the event. Also, each tribe,
regardless of its size, gave the same gifts, so no
tribe can later claim precedence.
For the presence of God in the cloud (9:15-
25), see on Exodus 13:21.
i l
Num. 10-11 THEY SET
FORWARD TO THE PROMISED
LAND
The people stayed at Mount Sinai for one year.
Then the cloud lifted. The silver trumpets sounded.
Judah led the march. And they were on their way.
Within three days, at Taberah, they began to
complain (10:33; 11:1—3). That was their specialty
— they knew how to complain. God sent them
quail, but He also sent a plague (see on Exodus
16).
Num. 12 MIRIAM AND AARON
OPPOSE MOSES
Before it was all over, poor Miriam wished she
had never started the thing. Moses was “very
humble” (v. 3). The KJV says he was “very meek.”
What an admirable trait in one of the greatest men
of the ages! Jesus, quoting Psalm 37:11, said,
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the
earth” (Matthew 5:5; see 11:29).
Num. 13-14 THE 12 SPIES SENT
TO CANAAN
Moses planned to go directly from Mount Sinai to
Canaan. He went straight to Kadesh, 150 miles
north of Sinai and 50 miles south of Beersheba, the
southern gateway to Canaan, intending to enter at
once.
But the spies brought a discouraging report,
and the people refused to go forward. In fact, they
would have stoned Moses if it had not been for
God’s miraculous intervention. This was the
crucial point of the journey. Within sight of the
Promised Land, they turned back. For them the
opportunity never returned — God could no longer
turn away from their continuous rebellion. Because
of their disobedience to undertake the conquest of
Canaan, this group forfeited their entrance into the
Promised Land. They were condemned to live out
their lives wandering in the desert. Only their
children would experience the joy previously
planned for them. Caleb and Joshua, the two spies
who wanted to go forward, were the only ones of
the 600,000 men over 20 who lived to enter
Canaan.
Num. 15-19 VARIOUS LAWS;
KORAH
Korah, jealous of Moses, sought to usurp his
leadership. Moses went straight to God, and God
settled the matter in no time. The earth opened, and
the rebels went down.
Moses’ Troubles
Moses surely had a lot of troubles. No sooner
was he out of Egypt than trouble began. The
Amalekites attacked immediately, and a year
later, at Kadesh, the Edomites, Moabites,
Ammonites, Amorites, and Midianites all
joined hands to block Israel’s path to Canaan.
And his own people, who had been delivered
out of Egypt and sustained by marvelous
miracles, grumbled and grumbled, and
complained and complained, and rebelled and
rebelled. They began complaining while still in
Egypt. Then at the Red Sea. Then at Marah.
Then in the Desert of Zin (KJV, Wilderness of
Sin). Then again at Rephidim, at Taberah, at
Hazeroth, and at Meribah. Now, at Kadesh, in
sight of the Promised Land, they flatly refused
to go farther, which must have almost broken
Moses’ heart.
Besides all this, Moses had no end of trouble
with his own trusted leaders. Aaron made the
golden calf at Sinai. Miriam and Aaron tried to
usurp his authority (chap. 12). Ten of the 12
spies led the people in their refusal to enter
Canaan. The people were ready to stone
Moses (14:10; Exodus 17:4).
And, last of all, Moses was not permitted to
enter the Promised Land himself — the lifetime
dream of his heart.
Except for the miraculous grace of God, we
do not see how he could have borne up under
it all. But when, on the banks of the Jordan
River, God took him to see the “land that I
promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob” (32:11), Moses understood.
Num. 20 FINAL START FOR
CANAAN
There seems to be a gap of 38 years between
chapters 19 and 20, covering the period between
the first arrival at Kadesh (13:26) and the final
departure from Kadesh for Canaan. In chapter 33
there is a list of encampments, 40 in all, from
Egypt to the Plains of Moab. Of these, 18 were
between Rithmah and Kadesh. We judge, from the
expression “in Kadesh many days” (Deuteronomy
1:46) and the mention of these 18 encampments
between the first and second arrivals at Kadesh,
that Kadesh may have been a sort of general
headquarters or home base, with the people
traveling to these other encampments as God
directed. They would remain for some time at one
spot, with their flocks and herds on the surrounding
hills and valleys, and then move on.
Moses’ sin, which cost him his entry into the
Promised Land, appears to have been his failure to
give God credit for the miracle of water out of the
rock (10:12). It may also have been due to his
failure to believe that a word alone could bring
forth water. His striking of the rock twice with his
staff showed a lack of trust in God and disrespect
toward His holiness.
An oasis in the Sinai Desert. These small patches of green in
the vast expanses of sand and rock indicate the presence of
water — but not necessarily enough water for a large nation.
When God gave the Israelites water from the rock, it was not
merely a display of His power — it was a matter of survival for
His people.
Miriam, Aaron, and Moses all died in the same
year. Miriam died at Kadesh (20:1), Aaron at
Mount Hor (20:28), and Moses on Mount Nebo
(Deuteronomy 32:50; 34:1, 5). Miriam was about
130 years old; Aaron, 123; and Moses, the
youngest of the siblings, a mere 120.
Num. 21 FROM KADESH TO THE
JORDAN
Perhaps the coalition of Amalekites and
Canaanites just to the north of Kadesh seemed too
strong for Israel to attempt the direct route to
Hebron. At any rate, God had other plans. They
started eastward, to go up along the eastern shore
of the Dead Sea, through the territory of Edom. But
the Edomites (the descendants of Jacob’s brother
Esau, Genesis 25:30) refused permission.
Moses then turned south, down the Arabah, the
desolate valley that extends from the Dead Sea
south to the Red Sea, “a vast and dreadful desert,”
for the long, circuitous, and hazardous route around
Edom and Moab, and then north, along the borders
of Arabia, to the Plains of Moab, opposite Jericho,
just east of the north end of the Dead Sea. God
commanded Moses not to do the Edomites,
Moabites, or Ammonites harm, even though they
tried to stop Israel.
The bronze snake (21:6-9) is a
foreshadowing of the Gospel. As those who were
bitten by the poisonous snakes looked to the bronze
snake and were healed, so we, who have been
wounded by sin, if we look to Jesus, will live
(John 3: 14).
The bronze snake was preserved, but at some
point the Israelites turned it into an idol, called it
Nehushtan, and began burning incense to it. It was
destroyed by King Hezekiah 700 years after Moses
made it (2 Kings 18:4).
The conquest of Gilead and Bashan (21:21—
35). The Amorites, who had crossed to the east of
the Jordan, attacked Israel. Moses had refrained
from attacking any of the nations through whose
country they marched. But now that the Amorites
attacked, the Israelites fought back and took their
country. Then Bashan attacked and was defeated as
well. The region east of the Jordan now belonged
to the Israelites.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Kadesh
Barnea. Kadesh Barnea is located on the
southwestern border of the land of Canaan. From
there the Israelites sent spies into the land of
Canaan, and after having been forbidden to enter
the land because of disbelief, they evidently spent
a good portion of the 38 years of their
“wanderings” camped in the vicinity. Kadesh
(Barnea) is usually identified with a series of
good-sized springs located in the region of Ain
Qudeirat and Ain Qudeis. This area is located
about 50 miles southwest of Beersheba.
Archaeological excavations have revealed the
remains of a series of small fortresses from the
10th to 6th centuries B.c., but no actual physical
remains from the time of the Israelite encampment
there.
Num. 22-25 BALAAM
Balaam’s prophecies were a remarkable
prediction of Israel’s influential place in history
through a “Star” that would arise out of Jacob
(24:17). Though God used him to speak true
prophecy, Balaam, for money, was the instigator of
Israel’s shameful sin with Moabite and Midianite
women, for which Balaam was slain and 24,000
Israelites perished (31:8, 16; 25:9). And Balaam’s
name became a synonym for false teachers (2 Peter
2:15; Jude 11; Revelation 2: 14).
How Could the Desert
Support 272 Million People
for 40 Years?
Only by the direct miraculous help of God.
The miracles were so continuous and so
stupendous that the clear intent of the record
is to show that it could not have been done
except by the hand of God. To those who find
it difficult to believe these things, we answer
that it is easier to believe them, exactly as
they are recorded, than to believe the strange
and fanciful theories invented to discredit
them. The events in the wilderness are in
accord with the entire Bible story. The
numbers recorded may be a misreading of
the text. Perhaps the “thousands” were “clan
groups.” If so, it might be possible to
drastically reduce the totals without doing
injustice to the text.
The purpose of the wilderness miracles may
have been
• To preserve the nation; in God’s plan the
nation had been established to pave the
way for a coming Messiah.
• To teach the nation, which had been
nurtured in Egyptian idolatry, faith in the
one, true God; and to give them concrete
proof, which would be a reminder for all
time to come that God can be trusted in
all the circumstances of life.
• To impress the surrounding nations,
particularly the Canaanites, with the fact
that the movement of Israel toward
Canaan was of God, and that it would be
with God, rather than merely a group of
people without much fighting experience,
that they would have to reckon.
Aside from various accompanying miracles,
the transplanting of a whole nation from one
land to another, meanwhile maintaining it for
40 years in a desert, was in itself one of the
most stupendous miracles of the ages.
Num. 26 THE SECOND CENSUS
Wilderness life must have been hard. Of the more
than 600,000 males above the age of 20 that were
included in the first census (chap. 1), only two
survived. The younger generation, hardened by the
desert, were a different class of men from what
their fathers had been as slaves freshly freed from
a hard but predictable life, from the “flesh pots”
(KJV; NIV “pots of meat,” Exodus 16:3) of Egypt.
Num. 27-36 VARIOUS
REGULATIONS AND EVENTS
For the feasts and offerings (chaps. 28-29), see
Leviticus , and the article on Feasts in
Deuteronomy.
For the settling of 2 1/2 tribes east of the
Jordan (chap. 32) and directions for the division of
the land (chap. 34), see on Joshua 13.
For the Levitical cities (chap. 35), see on
Joshua 2 1 .
For the Jewish calendar, see Jewish Calendar .
The Miracles of Moses
While miracles are a conspicuous feature of
the Bible, they are not abundant in all parts of
the Bible. Miracles (not including prophecies
and their fulfillment), are particularly
noticeable in four periods, centuries apart:
• The period of the Exodus and the
conquest of Canaan (Moses and Joshua)
• The period of struggle against idolatry
(Elijah and Elisha)
• The period of the Babylonian captivity
(Daniel)
• The period of Jesus and the Apostles
Aside from Jesus, it has never been given to
any man to be the mediator of so many
stupendous manifestations of divine power:
the 10 plagues on Egypt, the crossing of the
Red Sea, the water that was made sweet at
Marah, the provision of quail in the Desert of
Zin and at Taberah, the manna that was
supplied daily for 40 years, the Ten
Commandments written on a stone with God’s
finger, God’s talking face-to-face with Moses
so that Moses’ face shone, to name but a
few.
Moses could not have delivered Israel out of
Egypt and sustained them in the wilderness
for 40 years without the direct miraculous help
of God. But this high privilege, as in the case
of the apostle Paul, was accompanied by
almost unbelievable suffering.
0 *0 20 mw
Deuteronomy
Moses’ Farewell Address:
A Treaty Between God and Israel
Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your
strength.
— Deuteronomy 6:5
The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
— Deuteronomy 33:27
The title of this book, Deuteronomy, comes from
the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible,
and means “second law,” or “repetition of the
law.” In Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, many
laws had been given to the Israelites. Now, at the
border of Canaan, with the people ready to enter
the land at last, these laws are rehearsed and
expounded, in anticipation of — and with
applications to — settled life in Canaan. The form
is that of a formal treaty between God and His
people (see sidebar Deuteronomy: A Treaty
Between God and Israel in the chapter
Deuteronomy).
Many parts of Deuteronomy can be read not
only for their content, but also for the sheer
eloquence and beauty of their language.
Deut. 1-3 FROM SINAI TO THE
JORDAN
A retrospective summary of Numbers 1-33. After
one of the noblest and most heroic
accomplishments of the ages, Moses’ final appeal
to God to let him go over the Jordan was denied
(3:23-28) — because God had something better for
him, in a better world (see Hebrews 11:28-34,
39-40).
Deut. 4-5 CLING TO GOD’S
WORD
Earnest exhortations to observe God’s
commandments, to teach them diligently to their
children, and to shun idolatry — with the ever-
recurring reminder that their safety and prosperity
would depend on their loyalty and obedience to
God.
The Ten Commandments (chap. 5) are also
found in Exodus 20.
Deuteronomy: A Treaty
Between God and Israel
The book of Deuteronomy is more than simply
a restatement of the Law. It is, in fact, a
formal treaty between God and the people of
Israel.
The discovery in 1906-07 of some 10,000
tablets in the ancient Hittite capital Khattusa
(Boghaz-koy in modem Turkey) provided
examples of Hittite treaties that show that
Deuteronomy has all the elements contained
in Hittite treaties from the 2nd millennium b.c.,
largely in the same sequence, as the chart
below shows.
Joshua 24 also follows the treaty format.
Order of Sections
in Hittite Treaties Description Deut. Joshua 24
Introduction
of Speaker
Identifies the author and his right
to proclaim the treaty
1:1-5
vv. 1 —2
Historical
Prologue
Survey of past relationship
between parties
1:6-3:29
vv. 2— 1 3
Stipulations
Listing of obligations
chaps. 4—26
27:2-3
vv. 14—25
v. 26
Statement
Concerning
Document
Storage and instructions for
public reading
Witnesses
Usually identifies the gods who
arc called on to witness the oath
chaps.
31-32
vv. 22. 27
Curses and
Blessings
How the deity will respond to
adherence or violation of the
treaty
chap. 28
O
IN
>'
GREAT
Deut. 6 THE
COMMANDMENT
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is
one (v. 4): This is the beginning of the Jewish
confession of faith (vv. 6-9), the Shema (Hebrew
for “hear”).
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength”
(v. 5). This is repeated over and over (10:12; 11:1,
13, 22) and was reemphasized by Jesus (Matthew
22:37) and given first place in His teaching.
The Israelites were not to rely only on public
instruction to keep God’s ideas and the knowledge
of Him alive among His people; they were to teach
them diligently at home (6:6-9). Because books
were few and scattered, the people were to write
certain important parts of the Law on their
doorposts, bind them on their arms and foreheads,
and talk of them constantly. Although this command
may have been intended as a figure of speech, it
later gave rise to mezusas (small boxes with a
piece of Scripture in them, attached to doorposts)
and phylacteries (small containers with a piece of
Scripture that are strapped to the arm and the
forehead) that are worn to this day on certain
occasions in orthodox Jewish circles.
Man does not live on bread alone but on
every word that comes from the mouth
of the Lord.
— Deuteronomy 8:3
Deut. 7 CANAANITES AND
IDOLS MUST BE DESTROYED
The Israelites were to destroy the Canaanites and
all their idols. They should not make any
agreements or covenants with them, nor should
they intermarry with them. This sharp division was
necessary in order to save Israel from idolatry and
its abominations.
Behind these very strict commands stands
God’s love for Israel, stated in some of the most
beautiful verses in Scripture (7:6-11). It was not
because Israel was better or more important than
other nations — it was that God had chosen Israel
simply because He loved them.
Deut. 8 WONDERS OF THE
WILDERNESS RECALLED
For 40 years God had humbled and tested them —
and fed them with manna, while their clothes did
not wear out and their feet did not swell (v. 4) —
that they might learn to trust God and live by His
Word (2-5).
Deut. 9-10 ISRAEL’S
PERSISTENT REBELLION
Three times over, Israel is reminded that God’s
wondrous dealings with them were not because
they were so righteous (9:4, 5, 6) — they had been a
rebellious and stubborn people all the way.
Deut. 11 BLESSINGS OF
OBEDIENCE
This great chapter, like chapters 6 and 28, is an
appeal for devotion to God’s Word and obedience
to His commandments as the basis for national
prosperity, with wonderful promises and ominous
warnings.
Deut. 12-15 VARIOUS
ORDINANCES
All idols must be destroyed. Moses, reared in the
hotbed of Egyptian idolatry and surrounded all his
life by idol-worshiping peoples, never made any
compromise with idolatry. And his repeated
warnings came true: idolatry did turn out to be the
ruin of the nation.
“Rejoice” is a favorite word in the Psalms and
in the New Testament Epistles; note how often the
word is used in Deuteronomy (12:7, 12, 18; 14:26;
16:11; 26:11; 32:43; 33:18).
Clean and unclean animals (14:1-21), see on
Leviticus 11.
Tithes (14:22-29), see on Leviticus 27.
Sabbath year (15:1-11), see onLeviticus 25.
Slavery (15: 12-18), see onLeviticus 19.
Lirstfruits (15:19-23), see onLeviticus 27.
Deut. 16 FEASTS
Three times a year all male Israelites were
required to appear before God: at the feasts of
Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Besides
these three there were other feasts, chief among
them the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This
was the only day of the year the high priest was
allowed to enter the Most Holy Place (KJYI Holy
of Holies); see Leviticus 16.
Israel’s feasts were designed to keep God in
the thought of the people and, on a practical level,
to promote national unity. Later, when the northern
ten tribes seceded and formed the northern
kingdom (Israel), Jeroboam I realized that if his
people continued to worship the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, they would have to go to
Jerusalem in the southern kingdom (Judah) three
times a year. Making a clean break with the
southern kingdom was politically essential, which
is why Jeroboam instituted a “new” national
religion and set up pagan altars at Bethel and Dan
in the south and north of his kingdom.
Feasts in Israel
• The Passover and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread were kept in the
spring and lasted seven days. They
commemorated Israel’s deliverance in the
Exodus from Egypt. Passover was
celebrated at the beginning of the
religious year.
• Pentecost, also called the Feast of
Weeks, of Harvest, or of Firstfruits, was
kept on the 50th day after the Passover
and lasted one day.
• Tabernacles, also called the Feast of
Ingathering, was kept five days after the
Day of Atonement and lasted seven
days.
• The Feast of Trumpets (later called
Rosh Hashanah or New Year’s Day), on
the 1st day of the 7th month, ushered in
the civil year (see on Numbers 28).
• The Day of Atonement, see on Leviticus
16.
Deut. 17 THE PREDICTION OF A
KING
God here foretold that Israel would have a king,
adding some instructions and some warnings
(17:14-20). The monarchy would not come until
several centuries later (see on 1 Samuel 8).
When in the days of Samuel the people asked
for a king, Samuel told them that, in asking for a
king, the people were rejecting God. This is not a
contradiction. The fact that God foreknew does not
mean that He approved — only that He foreknew
what they would want and that He wanted to be
consulted in their choice. In rejecting the form of
government that God had given them — a theocracy
(literally, “rule of God”; compare with democracy,
“rule of the people”) — they were rejecting God.
Note that the kings were to be lifelong readers of
God’s Word (vv. 18-20). What a suggestion to
present-day rulers! Note also that the kings began
to do right away what God had said they should not
do: multiply to themselves wives and horses and
gold (16-17; 1 Kings 10:14-29; 11:1-13).
Deut. 18 THE PROPHET LIKE
MOSES
This prediction (18:15-19) may have a secondary
reference to the prophetic order as a whole, that is,
to the succession of prophets, such as Isaiah and
Joel, whom God would raise up for emergencies in
Israel’s history. But the language of this prediction
unmistakably points to one specific individual: the
Messiah. It is one of the most specific predictions
of Christ in all of the Old Testament. Jesus Himself
so understood it (John 5:46), as did Peter (Acts
3:22).
The Hebrew nation was founded by God as the
medium through which one day all nations would
be blessed. Here is an explicit statement that the
system on which the Hebrew nation was now being
organized — the one given through Moses, the Law
— would not be the system by which Israel would
bless all nations; the Law would be superseded by
another system, given by another prophet, which
would contain God’s message to all nations.
Judaism was to be fulfilled in and superseded by
the Gospel.
Old Testament Feasts and Other Sacred Days
Name
OT References
OT Time
Modem
Equivalent
Sabbath
Ex 20:8-1 1:31: 12— 17:
Lev 23:3: Dt 5:12-15
7th day
Same
Sabbath Year
Ex 23: 10- II; Lev 25:1-7
7th year
Same
Year of jubilee
Lev 25:8-55:27:17-24;
Nu 36:4
50th year
after 7 x 7
years
Same
Passover
Ex 12: 1-14; Lev 233.
Nu *1-14:28:16;
Dt 161 -3a, 4b -7
1st month
(Abib) 14
Mar. -Apr.
Unleavened
Bread
Ex 12:15-20.13:3-10:
23:15: 34: 18; Lev 23:6-8;
Nu 28:1 7-25; Dt 16:3b. 4a. 8
1 st month
(ANb) 15-21
Mar. -Apr
hrstfrurts
Lev 23:9-14
1st month
(Ab»b) 16
Mar. -Apr.
Weeks
(Pentecost)
(Harvest)
Ex 23:16a; 34 22a;
Lev 23:l5-2l;Nu
28:26-3 l;Dt 16:9-12
3rd month
(Sivan) 6
May -June
Trumpets (Later:
Rosh Hashanah—
New Year's Day)
Lev 23:23-25:
Nu 29: 1 -6
7th month
(Tishri) 1
Sepr -Oct.
Day of Atonement
(Yom Kippur)
Lev 16:23:26-32;
Nu 29:7-11
7th month
(Tishri) 10
Sepc-Oct
Tabernacles
(Booths)
(Ingathering)
Ex 23: 16b; 34:22b;
Lev 23:33-36a. 39-43;
Num 29; 12-34; Dt
16:13-15; Zee 14:16-19
7th month
(Tishri) 15-21
Sepc-Oct
Sacred Assembly
Lev 23:36b; Nu 29:35-38
7th month
(Tishri) 22
Sepc-Oct
Purim
Est 9:18-32
1 2th month
(Adar) 14-15
Feb. -Mar.
On Kislev 25 (mid -Dec.} Hanufckah, the Feast of Dedication, or Festival of Lights, commem-
orated the purification of the temple and altar in the Maccabean penod ( 1 65 /4 B.C.). This feast
Description
Purpose
NT References
Day of rest no woric
Rest for people
and animals
Mi 12:1-14; 28:l;Lk
4;l6;JnS:*Ac 13:41
Col 2:16: Heb 4:1-11
Year of rest: faHow fields
Rest for land
Canceled debts; liberation of
slaves and indentured servants: land
returned to original family owners
Help for poor;
stabilize society
Slaying and eaung a lamb, together
with bitter herbs and bread made
without yeast in every household
Remember
Israels deliverance
from Egypt
Mt 26:l7;Mk 14 12-26:
Jn 2:13:11:55:1 Co 5:7;
Heb 11:28
Eating bread made without
yeast holding several assemblies,
making designated offerings
Remember how the
Lord brought the
Israelites outof Egypt
in haste
Mk 1 4: 1 : Ac 12:3;
1 Co 5:6-8
Presenting a sheaf of the first
of the barley harvest as a wave
offering; makmg a burnt offering
and a gram offering
Recognize the
Lord's bounty in
the land
Ro 8:23;
1 Co 15:20-23
A festival of fO y. mandatory and
voluntary offerings, including the
firstfrmts of the wheat harvest
Show joy and thankful-
ness for the Lord's
blessing of harvest
Ac 2:1-4,20:16:
1 Co 16:8
An assembly on a day of rest
commemorated with trumpet
blasts and sacrifices
Present brad before
the Lord for Hu favor
A day of rest, fasting, and
sacrifices of atonement for
pnests and people and atonement
for the tabernacle and akar
Cleanse priests and
people from their
sms and punfy the
Holy Place
Ro 3:24-26. Heb
9:7 103. 19-22
A week of celebration for the
harvest: kving tn booths and
offering sacrifices
Memorialize the
journey from Egypt
to Canaan; give thanks
for the productivity
of Canaan
)n 7:2.37
A day of convocation,
rest, and offering sacrifices
Commemorate the ckwmg
of the cycle of feasts
A day of |oy and feasting and
giving presents
Remind the hraelites of
their national deliverance
m the time of Esther
is mentioned in In 10:22. In addition, new moons were often special feast days (No 1 0: 10:
1 Ch 23:31: Exr 3:5: Ne 10:13: Ps 81 :3: ha 1:13-14: 66:23: Hoi 5:7: Am 8 5: Col 2:16)
— from TV MV 6Vr Uwd by pr«n»i«n
Deut. 19 CITIES OF REFUGE
These cities provided sanctuary for those who had
caused accidental death — they were safe from
prosecution or revenge here. Moses had already
set aside three such cities east of the Jordan:
Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan (Deuteronomy 4:41—
43). Later Joshua set aside three cities of refuge
west of the Jordan: Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron.
All six cities of refuge were Levitical cities and
are included in the total of 48 cities given to the
Levites (Numbers 35:6).
Deut. 20 RULES OF WARFARE
Those who had built a new house, or had planted a
new vineyard, or were engaged to be married, or
were afraid or fainthearted were to be excused
from military service. The Canaanites were to be
destroyed — but food-bearing trees should be
spared.
A nawami, or burial place, in the Sinai Desert. These
structures date back to 3400-3150 B.C. and thus were
already almost 2000 years old when the Israelites traveled
through the region.
Deut. 21-26 VARIOUS LAWS
These laws range from matters such as public
atonement in the case of an unsolved murder
(21:1-9), to a rebellious son (if he does not accept
discipline he must be put to death, 21:18-21), to
the requirement of building a parapet or rail
around the flat roof of a house (22:8).
The variety of these laws and the large and
small issues they cover show God’s concern for
His people as well as His concern for social
justice and the protection of the weak — even a bird
sitting on eggs is protected by God (22:6-7).
We may well wonder whether the practical
holiness reflected in God’s laws has been
improved upon by our “enlightened” laws, more
than three millennia later.
Deut. 27 THE LAW TO BE
RECORDED ON MOUNT EBAL
The law was to be recorded on large stones once
Israel had crossed the Jordan. Joshua, who had
been one of the two spies who wanted to enter
Canaan 40 years before and who became Moses’
successor, did this (Joshua 8:30-32). In an age
when books were scarce, it was a custom to record
laws on stones and set them up in various cities, so
the people could know them This was done in
Egypt and in Babylonia, for example, with the
Code of Hammurabi (see The Time of the
Patriarchs: Genesis 12-50 T Moses commanded
Israel to make this the very first thing they did on
arrival in Canaan. The stones were to be covered
with plaster on which the laws were to be written
“very clearly” (v. 28).
Deut. 28 THE GREAT
PROPHECY ABOUT THE JEWS
Chapter 28 is the “curses and blessings” section of
the treaty between God and Israel (see the chapter
on Deuteronomy ). Here the consequences of both
obedience and disobedience to the “stipulations”
of the covenant are presented. This chapter is the
foundation for the message of the prophets, who
would again and again remind Israel of their
obligations to God (which as a nation they had
willingly accepted) and the consequences of their
disobedience. From this chapter flow both the
prophecies of impending doom that permeate most
of the prophetic writings, as well as the promise of
restoration: if God’s people turn back to Him, God
will honor His covenant and bless them Verses
58-68 are a grim reflection of the realities of the
last centuries: the dispersion of the Jews (the
Diaspora), their wanderings, unceasing
persecutions, their trembling of heart and pining of
soul, even until the present time.
Deut. 29-30 THE COVENANT
AND FINAL WARNINGS
Moses’ last words, as he envisions the fearful
consequences of disobedience and apostasy, are,
“See, I set before you today life and prosperity,
death and destruction” (30:15). Serving God is the
way of life; serving idols leads to certain death.
Deut. 31 JOSHUA TO SUCCEED
MOSES; MOSES WRITES THE
LAW IN A BOOK
Forty years earlier, Moses had written God’s
words in a book (Exodus 17:14; 24:4, 7). He had
also kept a diary of his journeys (Numbers 33:2).
Now his book was completed, and he handed it
over to the priests and Levites, with instructions
that it must be read periodically to the people.
The constant teaching of God’s written Word to
the people is the safest and most effective way to
guard against the corruption of their religion. When
Israel gave heed to God’s Word, they prospered.
When they neglected it, they suffered adversity.
Reading of God’s book brought about the great
reformation under Josiah (2 Kings 23) and the
renewal under Ezra (Nehemiah 8) — and the
Reformation that began with Luther’s reading of
the Word of God. The New Testament books were
written to be read in the churches (Colossians
4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27). God’s Word is the
power of God in the human heart. Oh, that the
present-day pulpit would somehow learn to keep
itself in the background while putting God’s Word
in the foreground!
Mount Nebo
Mount Nebo is the highest peak of Mount
Pisgah, eight miles east of the mouth of the
Jordan. From its summit the hill countries of
Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh could be
seen. Later, somewhere in the vicinity,
possibly on the plain or in the valleys below,
the angels came down and took Elijah away
to join Moses in glory (2 Kings 2:11).
Deut. 32 THE SONG OF MOSES
After Moses had finished “writing the book,” he
composed a song for the people to sing. He had
celebrated their deliverance from Egypt with a
song (Exodus 15), and he had written another one,
which is known to us as the 90th Psalm. Popular
songs are among the best means of writing ideas on
people’s hearts — for good or for evil! Deborah
and David poured out their souls to God in song
(Judges 5; 2 Samuel 22). The church, from its
inception until now, has used this same means to
perpetuate and spread the truths for which it
stands.
Deut. 33 THE BLESSINGS OF
MOSES
This chapter records the blessing Moses bestowed
on each of the tribes, with predictions about each.
This is similar to Jacob’s blessing his sons shortly
before his death (Genesis 49).
The magnificent statue of Moses by Michelangelo, in St.
Peter’s in Vincoli in Rome. In medieval and Renaissance art,
Moses was often represented with horns on his head, due to a
mistake in the Vulgate (Latin) translation of Exodus 34:29
(horns instead of was radiant).
Deut. 34 DEATH OF MOSES
At age 120, his eye not weak nor his strength gone
(v. 7), the old man climbed Mount Pisgah and, as
he viewed the Promised Land, into which he
longed to go, God gently lifted him into the better
land. In a moment his soul had passed within the
veil, and he was at home with God. God buried his
body, no one knows where. His remains were
removed beyond the reach of idolatry.
Here ends the first part of the Old Testament.
These five books, which occupy one-fourth of the
Old Testament and are almost as large as the entire
New Testament, were all written by one man,
Moses. What a man Moses must have been! How
intimate with God! What a work he did! What a
benefactor to mankind! Forty years in the palace of
Pharaoh; 40 years a refugee in Midian; 40 years
the leader of Israel in the desert. He delivered a
nation of some 2 1/2 million people from
servitude, transplanted them from one country to
another, and organized for them a system of
jurisprudence that has had a lasting impact on much
of the world’s civilization.
As thy days, so shall thy strength be.
— Deuteronomy 33:25 KJV
THE CONQUEST AND
SETTLEMENT OE CANAAN
Joshua-Ruth
The conquest of the land of Canaan, under the
leadership of Joshua, began around 1406 B.c. and
probably lasted for some 10 to 15 years. These
events are described in Joshua 1-12. Soon after
the conquest, or even while it was still under way,
territory was allotted to each of the Israelite tribes.
This was the beginning of Israel’s settlement of the
land of Canaan, the land that the Lord had
promised to Abraham (and his descendants) some
500 years earlier (Genesis 12:1-3, etc.). The Lord
was bringing them into the “mountain of your
inheritance — the place . . . made for your dwelling,
the sanctuary . . . your hands established” (Exodus
15:17). Here the Israelites would have a chance to
live their lives in obedience to, and worship of, the
true and living God. It was here that the Levites,
who were to teach God’s Law to the people, were
allotted 48 cities scattered throughout the land
(Joshua 20; 1 Chronicles 6:39-66) so that their
godly influence could permeate the people of God.
But the writers of the books of Joshua and
Judges were well aware that not all of the
Promised Land was under Israelite control (Joshua
13:1-6; Judges 3:1-3). As the tribes attempted to
settle in their allotted territories, they encountered
the opposition of peoples such as the Canaanites,
Moabites, Ammonites, and Philistines. But what
was more serious was that in some instances Israel
began to adopt the pagan religious practices of
these peoples!
At times, the worship of Baal and Asherah
became common among God’s people as they
failed to respond with gratitude to God’s gracious
dealings with them. In response to Israel’s sinful
disobedience, God used the pagan nations to
oppress His people — as instruments of His
judgment. Israel would eventually respond in
repentance, and then God sent them a deliverer, a
“Judge” (there are 12 of them mentioned in
Scripture), to deliver them. After each deliverance,
Israel typically enjoyed a period of “rest” —
freedom from oppression — but unfortunately, Israel
(or portions of it) would relapse into sin and the
cycle would begin again.
During the period of the Judges (ca. 1390—
1050 B.c.), there was no king in Israel. Ideally,
Israel was to be a “theocracy,” that is, a nation
whose ruler was the Lord (Joshua 8:23). It appears
that for much of the period of the Judges the tribes
gathered for worship at Shiloh, some 20 miles
north of Jerusalem, for there the tabernacle and the
ark of the covenant were located.
In the period just before the Israelites’ conquest
of Canaan, strong Egyptian kings such as Thutmose
III and Amenhotep II had been active in Canaan.
But the 400 cuneiform tablets found at El Amarna
indicate that the time of the conquest and
immediately thereafter (ca. 1400-1350 B.c.) was a
period of more limited Egyptian influence in
Canaan. Indeed, during the period of the Judges,
groups of people from the Aegean area, known as
the “Sea Peoples,” percolated into the regions
along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea,
including the land of Canaan. Among them were
the Philistines, who settled in southwest Canaan in
the cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and
Gath. The military conflicts between the Philistines
and Israel (under Samson and Samuel) would
eventually push the Israelites toward kingship.
During the middle of the period of the Judges,
Egyptian rulers such as Seti I, Rameses II, and
others passed through Canaan on their way north,
to do battle with the kingdoms of Mitanni and the
Hittites. But since the Israelites did not interfere
with these troop movements, and since the
movements were generally in territory controlled
by Canaanites and others — that is, not by the
Israelites — no record of any battles between Egypt
and Israel is found in the book of Judges.
However, the Egyptian ruler Merneptah does say
in one of his texts that “Israel is laid waste [and]
his seed is not” ( Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p.
378) as a result of a campaign in his fifth year (ca.
1231 B.c.).
Archaeologically, the era of the Judges (1390-
1050 B.c.) is known as the Late Bronze II (1400-
1200 b.c.) and Iron I (1200-1000 b.c.) ages.
Generally, this seems to have been a time when the
strong Canaanite city-states were declining in size
and influence, while newcomers — such as the
Israelites — were gaining a foothold in the hill
country, establishing small farmsteads and
settlements there. Throughout, and especially at the
end of, this period, Israel’s near neighbors
(especially the Ammonites to the east and the
Philistines to the southwest) continued to grow
stronger, so that the physical existence of God’s
people hung in the balance. It would take
personalities such as Saul, but especially David, to
complete the conquest of the land that had begun
under Joshua 400 years earlier.
Joshua
The Conquest and Settlement of Canaan
“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from
your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so
that you may be careful to do everything
written in it. Then you will be prosperous
and successful. ”
— Joshua 1:8
“Choose for yourselves this day whom you
will serve. . . . But as for me and my
household, we will serve the Lord. ”
— Joshua 24:15
The Man Joshua
Joshua was of the tribe of Ephraim (Numbers
13:8). He had been a personal assistant of Moses
throughout the 40 years of wilderness wandering.
He went with Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus
24: 13). He was one of the 12 spies, and one of the
two who wanted to go ahead and conquer the land
in God’s strength (Numbers 13:8, 16). Josephus
says that Joshua was 85 when he succeeded
Moses. It is thought that it took about six years to
subdue the Canaanites, and Joshua spent the rest of
his life settling and governing the 12 tribes. Joshua
was in charge of Israel for about 25 years. He died
at age 110 and was buried in Timnath Serah, in
Ephraim.
“As I was with Moses, so I will be with
you; I will never leave you nor forsake
you. ”
— Joshua 1 :5
Joshua was a great warrior who disciplined
his forces and sent out spies — but he also prayed
and trusted in God. He led his people into the
Promised Land, and he may have been a prototype
of his greater Successor, Jesus (the Greek form of
Joshua), who is leading His own into the Promised
Land of heaven.
Josh. 1 THE BOOK
This is a grand chapter. Israel had a Book. It was
only a fraction of what we now have in God’s
Word, but oh how important! God’s solemn
warning to Joshua, standing at the threshold of a
gigantic task, was to be very careful to keep close
to the words of that Book. Joshua listened and
obeyed, and God honored him with phenomenal
success. What a lesson for church leaders!
l l
Rahab’s House on the Wall
( 2 : 15 )
Archaeologists have found that in Jericho,
houses were indeed built between the inner
and outer walls of the city (see
ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Jericho in the
chapter on Joshua).
Josh. 2 THE TWO SPIES AND
RAHAB
Rahab had heard of the miracles God had done on
behalf of Israel, and she had become convinced
that Israel’s God was the true God (2:10-11). And
when she met the spies she decided, at the risk of
her life, to cast her lot with Israel and the God of
Israel. Rahab and her household were spared
during the Israelite attack on Jericho. A scarlet
cord tied in the window of her house indicated that
the household was not to be harmed. The function
of this red marker was similar to the purpose of the
blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts in
Egypt when the firstborn of Egypt died but the
firstborn of the Israelites were spared (Exodus
12:13, 22-23). She may not have been as bad as
the word “prostitute” now implies. She lived
among people without morals. Some priestesses of
the Canaanite religion were temple prostitutes. Her
profession was considered honorable by the
people among whom she lived, and not
disgraceful, as it now is among us.
Rahab married an Israelite named Salmon
(Matthew 1:5). Caleb had a son named Salmon (1
Chronicles 2:51). It may have been the same
Salmon. If so, then she married into a leading
family of Israel. She became an ancestress of Boaz
(Ruth 2-4), of David, and of Christ. She is named
among the heroes of faith (Hebrews 11:31).
Josh. 3 CROSSING THE
JORDAN
When the ark of the Lord, the most sacred of the
tabernacle furnishings signifying the Lord’s throne,
stood at the water’s edge, the river “piled up in a
great heap,” at Adam (3:16), 22 miles to the north.
Below that, the water drained off and left the
pebbly river bottom dry enough to walk on. The
Levites then carried the ark into the passage ahead
of the people of Israel. God was leading His
people into the Promised Land!
At Adam, the Jordan flows through clay hanks
40 feet high, which are subject to landslides. In
1927 an earthquake caused these banks to collapse,
so that no water flowed past them for 21 hours.
God may have used some such means to make the
waters “stand” for Joshua. At any rate, it was a
mighty miracle and terrified the already frightened
Canaanites (5:1).
Jesus, 1,400 years later, was baptized in the
same Jordan that Joshua and the Israelites crossed.
Josh. 4 THE MEMORIAL
STONES
There were two piles of memorial stones: one
where the ark stood on the east bank of the river
(4:9), the other on the west side, at Gilgal, where
they stayed. The stones were placed there so that
generations to come would not forget the enormous
miracle that had happened there.
Josh. 5 THE FIRST PASSOVER
IN THE PROMISED LAND
At long last the Israelites were in the Promised
Land, although they still had to capture it. On the
fourth day after they crossed the Jordan, their first
act was to keep the Passover (4:19; 5:10). The
next day the manna ceased (5:12), ending 40 years
of God’s special provision. They were now to
receive provisions directly from the Promised
Land. Then God sent the commander of His
invisible army to encourage Joshua for the task
ahead (5:13-15).
Jericho owes its existence to a perennial spring and an oasis;
in Deuteronomy 34:3 it is called the “City of Palms.” It bills
itself today, with some justification, as the “World’s Oldest
City.” The oldest town on the site dates back to the 8th
millennium B.C. It had a revetment wall with at least one tower
with a built-in stairway.
Josh. 6 THE FALL OF JERICHO
Jericho was taken by direct intervention of God, to
inspire the Israelites with confidence at the
beginning of their conquest of peoples more
powerful than they. Led by the ark of the Lord, with
trumpets blowing, they walked around the city
seven days. Hovering above were the invisible
hosts of the Lord (5:14), waiting for the appointed
hour. And on the seventh day, at the blast of the
trumpets, the walls fell.
In an amazing prophecy, a curse was
pronounced on anyone who would attempt to
rebuild the city (6:26; see on 1 Kings 16:34).
Jericho was roughly six miles from the Jordan;
Gilgal, Joshua’s headquarters, was probably about
halfway between. The wall of Jericho enclosed
about 10 acres. It was a place where the people
from the heavily populated surroundings could find
refuge in case of an attack.
New Testament Jericho was about a mile south
of the ruins of Old Testament Jericho. The modern
village of Jericho is about a mile to the southeast.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Jericho.
Jericho has been much excavated in the 20th
century: by Warren, by Sellin and Watzinger, by
Garstang, by Kenyon, and by an Italian team What
John Garstang thought were the walls destroyed by
Joshua turned out to actually be the walls of a city
that existed about 1000 years before Joshua.
However, Kathleen Kenyon’s negativism about the
correlation of the biblical and archaeological data
is also not warranted. Bryant Wood, in his analysis
of all of the data, has reasonably suggested the
following. What the archaeologists call City IV
was destroyed about 1400 B.c, This date agrees
well with the internal chronology of the Bible,
which would place the conquest of Joshua at about
1406 B.c. City IV was surrounded by an inner and
an outer city wall. The outer wall was supported
by a massive sloping stone structure (revetment
wall). Between the two walls, houses from City IV
have been found (note the position of Rahab’s
house on the city wall; Joshua 2:15).
It seems that City IV was first destroyed by an
earthquake and then by fire — burnt debris, in some
places three or more feet thick, has been found at
various locations on the tell. Among the debris
were pottery, household utensils, and even
carbonized grain — indicating that the destruction
had taken place in the spring of the year, just after
the harvest (2:6; 3:15; and note that Israel
celebrated the Passover just before the conquest of
Jericho, 5:10 and cf. 3:15). It also indicated that
there had not been a long siege (large quantities of
grain were found; the biblical texts say the city
was taken within seven days, 6:15), and that the
inhabitants did not have time to flee with their
belongings before the destruction. In addition,
carbon- 14 (C 14 ) tests on the organic material place
the destruction at about 1400 B.c, Even Egyptian
scarabs (seals) found in tombs there do not name
pharaohs who ruled after 1400 B.c.
Josh. 7-8 THE FALL OF Al AND
BETHEL
Right after the miraculous crossing of the Jordan
and the miraculous fall of Jericho, Israel met with
a dreadful defeat at Ai — because of one man’s
disobedience. It was a terrible shock to Israel. It
was a disciplinary lesson. God was with them, but
He meant them to understand that He expected
obedience.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Bethel and
Ai. Archaeological evidence can be found to
correlate the conquest of Jericho and Hazor with
the biblical data of Joshua’s conquests. However,
the conquest of Ai, described in Joshua 7-8, has
not yet been illuminated by archaeological finds.
Biblical Ai is usually associated with et-Tell,
because the topographical setting of et-Tell is
close to that of Ai described in Scripture (east of
Bethel, valleys and hills in the proper locations,
etc.)- However, extensive archaeological
excavations at et-Tell have shown that it was not
inhabited between about 2300 B.c. and 1100 B.c.
This of course means that it could not have been
conquered by Joshua around 1400 B.c. — for no one
was living there then.
Attempts have been made to identify other tells
in the area east of Bethel (which is usually
identified with the village of Beitin) with biblical
Ai, but to date a definitive identification has not
yet been made. Recently a two-acre site called
Khirbet el-Maqatir has been suggested as meeting
the textual, geographical, and especially the
archaeological requirements for Ai — it is east of
Bethel, has a hill and valley to the north, etc., and
it apparently has the remains of a small fortress
from about 1400 B.c,, the very time of Joshua’s
conquest. But certainty about this suggested
identification is not possible until the
archaeological profile of the site has been
completely substantiated.
Related to the question of the proper
identification of Ai is the identification of its twin
city — Bethel. The almost universally accepted
identification of Bethel with the antiquity site in the
Arab village of Beitin is based on topographical,
historical, and limited archaeological evidence,
but especially on the fact that the biblical name
Bethel seems to be preserved in the name Beitin.
However, a small minority of researchers have
suggested that Bethel should really be identified
with a large, archaeologically rich site called Ras
et-Tahuneh, located in the Arab city of el-Birah,
just east of Ramallah. Both et-Tell and Khirbet el-
Makatir, the sites proposed for Ai, are east of a
north- south line drawn through either Beitin or Ras
et-Tahuneh — thus fulfilling the textual requirements
of being east of Bethel — but only Khirbet el-
Makatir has the archaeological remains dating to
the days of Joshua.
The Canaanites and
Amorites
“Canaan” was one of the ancient names for
the land of Israel (see Numbers 34:1-12 for
its specific boundaries), and its inhabitants
were often called “Canaanites” during the
second millennium b.c. In a more restricted
sense the Bible places the Canaanites on the
coastlands, in the valleys, and in the Jordan
Valley. “Amorite” is also a term which can be
used to refer to the ancient inhabitants of
Israel, but in a more special sense it can refer
to a group of people who live in the Hill
Country — on either side of the Rift Valley.
Sihon, who lived in Heshbon, east of the Dead
Sea, is called the “king of the Amorites”
(Numbers 21 :26).
Since time and again archaeological
discoveries have demonstrated the trustworthiness
of the biblical text, it seems best to await further
discoveries to help answer the puzzling question as
to the proper identification of biblical Ai.
Josh. 8:30-35 THE LAW
RECORDED AT MOUNT EBAL
Moses had commanded that this be done (see on
Deuteronomy 27). Shechem, in the center of the
land, was between Mount Ebal and Mount
Gerizim, in a valley of surpassing beauty. Here,
600 years before, Abraham had erected his first
altar in the land. And here Joshua, in solemn
ceremony, read the Book of the Law to the people.
Josh. 9-10 THE BATTLE IN
WHICH THE SUN STOOD STILL
Gibeon, about six miles northwest of Jerusalem,
was one of the land’s greatest cities (10:2). The
Gibeonites, frightened after the fall of Jericho and
Ai, made haste to enslave themselves to Israel.
This enraged the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron,
Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, and the five of them
marched against Gibeon. Then Joshua, honoring his
ill-advised commitment to the people of Gibeon,
came to their rescue. This led to the famous battle
of Gibeon, Beth Horon, and westward, where the
sun stood still for a whole day. Exactly what
happened or how, we do not know. Some people
claim to have calculated that the calendar lost a
day around that time. At any rate, in some way or
other, daylight was miraculously prolonged so that
Joshua’s victory might be complete.
3 : ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Lachish
and Debir. Lachish and Debir are named among
cities whose inhabitants were defeated by Joshua
(10:32,39).
Lachish. Archaeological excavations at Tell
ed-Duweir have suggested that at the time of the
conquest, Lachish was an important but unfortified
Canaanite city. Its lack of a defensive wall may
have led to its speedy conquest. The Bible does
not actually describe its conquest and destruction
in the same terms as it does that of Jericho, Ai, and
Hazor.
Debir (Kiriath Sepher). The older
identification of Debir with Tell Beit Mirsim is no
longer accepted, for according to Joshua 15:49,
Debir is to be located in the Hill Country of Judah,
not in the lowlands. Consequently, Debir is now
identified with Khirbet Rabud (8 1/2 miles south-
southwest of Hebron — in the Hill Country of
Judah), which has produced evidence of being
inhabited and conquered at the time of Israel’s
entrance into Canaan (ca. 1400 B.c,).
Josh. 11 THE KINGS OF THE
NORTH DEFEATED
In the battle of Beth Horon, where the sun stood
still, Joshua had broken the power of the kings of
the South. Now his victory over the kings of the
North, at Merom, gave him control of the whole
land. Joshua’s strategy was to separate the north
from the south of Canaan by capturing the center
first, after which he could more easily subdue both
parts.
The Israelites fought hard, yet it was God who
gave them the land by means of three stupendous
miracles: the crossing of the Jordan, the fall of
Jericho, and the standing still of the sun.
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Hazor.
Joshua “burned up Hazor itself’ (11:11).
Archaeological excavations have found the ashes
of this fire, with pottery evidence that it had
occurred about 1400 B.c,
Also: an Amarna Tablet, written to Pharaoh,
1380 B.c., by the Egyptian envoy in north Palestine,
says, “Let my lord the king recall what Hazor and
its king have already had to endure.” The only
ruler in Canaan who is called a “king” in the
nearly 400 Amarna Tablets, is the ruler of Hazor.
Note also that in the Bible Hazor was called “the
head of all these kingdoms” (Joshua 11:10).
This view from the mound of what once was Hazor, with Israeli
soldiers approaching, could be the same perspective from
which the king of Hazor watched Joshua and the Israelites
approach.
Tribal Territories
Thus, Joshua’s conquest of Palestine is attested
by great layers of ashes, bearing marks of Joshua’s
time, in Jericho, Debir, and Hazor, exactly
confirming biblical statements.
Josh. 12 LIST OF DESTROYED
KINGS
Thirty-one kings are named. Generally speaking,
the whole land was conquered (10:40; 11:23;
21:43). However, small groups of Canaanites
remained (13:2-7; 15:63; 23:4; Judges 1:2, 21, 27,
29, 30, 31, 33, 35) who, after Joshua’s death, made
trouble for Israel. Also, the land of the Philistines,
Sidon, and the Lebanon region were still
unconquered.
Josh. 13-22 THE DIVISION OF
THE LAND
The map: Tribal Territories shows the approximate
location of the land that was assigned to each of
the 12 tribes of Israel. There were six cities of
refuge (chap. 20; see on Deuteronomy 19), and 48
cities for the Levites, including 13 for the priests
(21:19, 14). The altar by the Jordan (chap. 22) was
intended as a token of national unity for a nation
divided by a great river.
Josh. 23-24 JOSHUA’S
FAREWELL ADDRESS
Joshua had received from Moses the written Law
of God (1:8). He now added his own book to it
(24:26). Joshua made good use of written
documents, or “books,” as Moses had done (see on
Deuteronomy 31). He had the land surveyed with
“a book” (18:9). He read to the people the “book”
of Moses (8:34). And at Mount Ebal he “wrote on
stones” a copy of the Law (8:32).
The main burden of Joshua’s final speech was
against idolatry. Canaanite idolatry was such an
aesthetic combination of religion and free
indulgence of carnal desires that only persons of
exceptional strength of character could withstand
its allurements.
At Shechem, Joshua and the Israelites renewed their
commitment to God’s covenant with Israel. Joshua set up a
great stone as a witness. This stone, at the site of ancient
Shechem, is like the one Joshua erected, although it is most
likely not the original one.
Judges
i i
300 Years of Oppression and Deliverance
"But you have forsaken me and served other
gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and
cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let
them save you when you are in trouble!”
But the Israelites said to the Lord,
“We have sinned. Do with us whatever you
think best, but please rescue us now. ” Then
they got rid of the foreign gods among them
and set~ved the Lord. And he could bear
Israel s misery no longer.
— Judges 10 : 13-16
The Period of the Judges
The Hebrew nation, after the death of Joshua, had
no strong central government. They were a
confederacy of 12 independent tribes, with no
unifying element except their God. The form of
government in the days of the Judges is spoken of
as a “theocracy,” that is, God Himself was
supposed to be the direct ruler of the nation. But
the people did not take their God very seriously —
they were continually falling into idolatry. Being
more or less in a state of anarchy, harassed at times
by civil war among themselves, and surrounded by
enemies who made attempt after attempt to
exterminate them, the Hebrew nation was very
slow in its national development. The Israelites
did not become a great nation until they were
organized into a kingdom in the days of Samuel and
David.
The exact duration of the period of the Judges
is uncertain. When we add all the years of the
oppressions, of the individual Judges, and of the
periods of rest, they add up to 410 years (see chart
below). But some of these figures may overlap.
Jephthah, who lived near the end of the period,
spoke of it as 300 years (11:26). ft is thought to
have been, in round numbers, about 300 years,
roughly from about 1400 until 1100 B.c, The entire
period from the Exodus to King Solomon, which
includes also the 40-year period of travel through
the wilderness as well as the eras of Eli, Samuel,
Saul, and David, is given as 480 years in 1 Kings
6:1.
There were also oppressions by Sidonians and
Maonites (10:12).
Years of
Oppressor(s) Oppression Judge
Years
of Rest
Mesopotamians
8
Othniel, of Debir in Judah
40
Moabites
Ammonites
Amalekites
18
Ehud, of Benjamin
80
Philistines
Shamgar
Canaanites
20
Deborah, of Ephraim;
Barak, of Naphtali
40
Midianites
Amalekites
7
Gideon, of Manasseh
40
Abimelech (usurper), of Manasseh
3
Tola, of Issachar
23
Jair, of Gilead, in E Manasseh
22
Ammonites
18
Jephthah, of Gilead, in E Manasseh
6
Ibzan, of Bethlehem, in Judah(?)
7
Elon, of Zebulun
10
Abdon, of Ephraim
8
Philistines
40
Samson, of Dan
20
TOTAL
III
299
Judg. 1 CANAANITES THAT
WERE LEFT IN THE LAND
Joshua had destroyed the Canaanites in some
sections of the land and had kept others in
subjection (Joshua 10:40, 43; 11:23; 13:2-7;
21:43-45; 23:4; 24:18). After his death, there
remained considerable numbers of Canaanites
(Judges 1:28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35).
God had commanded Israel to utterly destroy
or drive out the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 7:2-4).
Had Israel fully obeyed this command, they would
have saved themselves a lot of trouble.
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Iron in
Palestine. The Bible states that the reason Israel
could not drive out the Canaanites and Philistines
is that they had iron, while Israel did not (1:19;
4:3; Joshua 17:16-18; 1 Samuel 13:19-22). Only
after Saul and David broke the power of the
Philistines did iron come into use in Israel (2
Samuel 12:31; 1 Chronicles 22:3; 29:7).
“40 Years” and “40 Days”
Othniel, Deborah and Barak, and Gideon are
each said to have judged Israel for 40 years;
Ehud was judge for twice 40 years. Later, Eli
judged for 40 years. And Saul, David, and
Solomon each reigned 40 years. “Forty
years” seems to have been a round number
denoting a generation or completion.
Similarly, “40 days” is used as a round number
to indicate completion or fullness. Note how
often 40 is used throughout the Bible:
• During the Flood it rained 40 days
• Moses fled at age 40, was in Midian for
40 years, and was on Mount Sinai for 40
days
• Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40
years
• The spies spent 40 days in Canaan
• Elijah fasted 40 days
• Nineveh was given 40 days’ respite
(Jonah 3)
• Jesus fasted 40 days (Matthew 4:1-11)
and was on earth for 40 days after the
Resurrection
Although iron objects begin to appear in
Palestine at about the time of the arrival of the
Philistines, it wasn’t until the 11th century that they
became more common. Broken spears, hoes, etc.,
were not discarded, but were typically melted
down and the metal recast.
Judg. 2 APOSTASY AFTER THE
DEATH OF JOSHUA
As the hardy, wilderness-bred generation, who
under the powerful leadership of Joshua had
conquered the land, died off, the new generation
found itself settled in a land of plenty and soon
lapsed into the easy-going ways of their idolatrous
neighbors.
The Refrain Running Through the Book
The refrain of the book is, “Every man did that
which was right in his own eyes” (KJV), or as the
NIV puts it, “Everyone did as he saw fit” (17:6;
21:25). They were again and again falling away
from God into the worship of idols. When they did
this, God delivered Israel into the hands of foreign
oppressors. Then, when Israel in their suffering
and distress turned back and cried to God, God
had pity on Israel and raised up Judges, who saved
Israel from their enemies. As long as the Judge
lived, the people served God. But soon after the
Judge died, the people would leave God and go
back to their old ways.
Invariably, when they served God, they
prospered, but when they served idols, they
suffered. Israel’s troubles were due directly to
their disobedience. They did not keep themselves
from worshiping idols. They did not exterminate
the inhabitants of the land as they had been
commanded. And thus, from time to time, the
struggle for mastery was renewed.
Judg. 3 OTHNIEL, EHUD,
SHAMGAR
Othniel, of Debir, south of Hebron, saved Israel
from the Mesopotamians, who invaded from the
northeast.
Ehud saved Israel from Moabites, Ammonites,
and Amalekites. The story of how he used his left-
handedness to kill Eglon, king of Moab, is told in
graphic detail.
The Moabites were descendants of Lot. They
occupied the tableland east of the Dead Sea. Their
god, Chemosh, was worshiped by human sacrifice.
They had repeated wars with Israel.
Gezer was one of the cities the Israelites failed to take in their
conquest of Canaan. This is the “high place” of Gezer, where
idols were worshiped. The city was finally captured in
Solomon’s time by the pharaoh of Egypt, who set it on fire,
killed its inhabitants, and gave it as a wedding gift to Solomon,
who rebuilt Gezer (1 Kings 9:16-17).
The Ammonites were also descendants of Lot.
Their territory was next to Moab, beginning about
30 miles east of the Jordan. Their god, called
Molech, was worshiped by the burning of little
children.
Moab and Ammon, the ancestors of these two
nations, were the product of an incestuous
relationship (Genesis 19:30-38).
The Amalekites were descendants of Esau.
They were a nomadic tribe, centered mainly in the
northern part of the Sinai peninsula but roaming in
wide circles, even into Judah and far to the east.
They were the first to attack Israel after their
departure from Egypt. Moses authorized their
extinction (Exodus 17:8-16). They have
disappeared from history.
Shamgar, of whom little is told, saved Israel
from the Philistines.
The Philistines were descendants of Ham.
They occupied the Coastal Plain between modern
Tel Aviv and Gaza, and they again oppressed Israel
in Samson’s day.
Judg. 4-5 DEBORAH AND
BARAK
Deborah and Barak saved Israel from the
Canaanites, who had been subdued by Joshua but
had become powerful again. With their chariots
made of iron they had a major advantage over
Israel. Deborah is the only female Judge. Her faith
and courage put Barak’s to shame.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Kings of
Hazor. Again, the king of Hazor led the northern
Canaanite rulers into battle against the Israelites.
Jabin seems to have been a “dynastic name” used
by some of the rulers of Hazor, for not only are
there at least two Jabins of Hazor in the Bible, but
the name has also been found on a cuneiform tablet
discovered at Hazor itself. There is archaeological
evidence that Hazor was destroyed about 1200
B.c., which chronologically fits well with the story
of Deborah and Barak.
Judg. 6-8 GIDEON
For seven years, Midianites, Amalekites, and
Arabians (6:3; 8:24) had swarmed into the land, in
such numbers that the Israelites sought refuge in
caves and made hidden pits for their grain (6:2-4,
11). Gideon, with the direct help of God and an
army of 300 men armed with torches hidden in
pitchers, gave them such a terrific beating that they
came no more.
This was the second time the Amalekites
invaded Israel (see under chapter 3).
The Judges: Deborah/Barak and Gideon
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The Midianites were nomadic descendants of
Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:1-6). Their
main center was in Arabia, just east of the Red
Sea, but they roamed far and wide. Moses had
lived among them for 40 years and married one of
them (Exodus 2:15-21). Gradually they were
absorbed into the Arabians.
The Arabians were descendants of Ishmael
(Genesis 16). Arabia was the great peninsula
(1,500 miles north and south, 800 east and west)
that is today Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It was an
elevated tableland, 150 times the size of Palestine,
that sloped north to the Syrian desert. It was
sparsely inhabited by wandering tribes.
Judg.9 ABIMELECH
Abimelech was the son of a wonderful father, but
he himself was a brutal man. This is a typical story
of the eternal struggle of gangsters for power.
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE:
Abimelech’s Destruction of Shechem. With
money from the temple of Baal (v. 4), he hired men
to murder his brothers, and “he destroyed the city
and scattered salt over it” (v. 45). The scattering of
salt symbolized the utter destruction of the city and
its infertility in perpetuity (Deuteronomy 29:23;
Psalm 107:34).
H. Thiersch identified a mound (Tell Balatah)
near the modern city of Nablus as ancient
Shechem. This 15 -acre mound contains more than
20 strata. Remains of a massive tower, dating to
the period of the conquest and the Judges was
discovered. The last stratum when the tower was
used suffered a significant destruction around 1100
B.c., about the time of Abimelech.
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Judg. 10-12 TOLA, JAIR,
JEPHTHAH, IBZAN, ELON,
ABDON
Tola and Jair are both mentioned as Judges.
Jephthah was of Mizpah, in Gilead, the land
of the prophet Elijah, in eastern Manasseh.
The Ammonites, whose power had been
broken by Ehud, one of the earlier Judges, had
again become strong and were plundering Israel.
God gave Jephthah a great victory over the
Ammonites and delivered Israel. The pitiful thing
in the story of Jephthah is the sacrifice of his
daughter, the result of a rash vow.
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon are mentioned as
Judges.
The Judges: Tola, Jair.Jephthah. Ibzan,
Elon, Abdon, and Samson
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In Gaza, Samson walked off with the gates to the city (Judges
16:3). This was a remarkable feat, since he didn’t bother to
open the gates but took them “bar and all.” The “poles”
Samson took out were the hinges — vertical poles that fit into
stone sockets, like this socket (at center of photo) from
Ashkelon, another city of the Philistines.
Judg. 13-16 SAMSON
Samson, of the tribe of Dan, on the Philistine
border, was before his birth appointed by God to
deliver Israel from the Philistines. God endowed
him with superhuman strength, and, under God, his
exploits were amazing. But he also knew weakness
and tragedy.
Samson is the last of the Judges mentioned in
the book of Judges. Soon afterward followed the
organization of the kingdom under Samuel, Saul,
and David.
Judg. 17-18 THE MIGRATION
OF THE DANITES
The Danites had been assigned a territory that
included the Philistine plain, which they had not
been able to take, and since they were cramped for
room, part of the tribe, with a stolen god, migrated
far to the north and settled near the headwaters of
the Jordan.
A relief from the mortuary temple of Rameses III at Medinet
Habu, across the Nile from Thebes, Luxor, and Karnak. The
relief shows a number of captives, including one Philistine (far
right) who can be recognized by his characteristic headdress.
Judg. 19-21 THE BENJAMITE
DEED OF SHAME
A narrative of savage justice for a crime
unspeakably horrible, as a result of which the tribe
of Benjamin was almost wiped out.
Heroes of Faith
Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson are included
among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11:32. In
spite of things in their lives about which we
wonder, they had faith in God.
Miracles in the Book of Judges
God directly and miraculously intervened during
the time of the Judges, especially in the stories of
Gideon and Samson. An angel appeared to Gideon,
God gave a sign by means of dew on an animal
skin, and Gideon defeated the Midianites with 300
men. An angel appeared to Samson’s parents; he
was born of a barren mother, and he had
superhuman strength.
All this shows that God, in His mercy, still had
His eye on His people, even though they had sunk
to the lowest depths.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Arrival of
the Philistines. There is extensive evidence for
the arrival of the Philistines during the period of
the Judges. Typical pottery forms, temples, and
other artifacts have been found at their cities of
Ashdod, Ekron, and Timnah. A 1200 B.c.
destruction level at Hazor has been found.
Canaanite temples and deities have been
discovered at Hazor and elsewhere. These are all
finds that help illuminate the biblical text.
Why Is Such a Book in the Bible?
It is simple history. God had founded a nation for
the purpose of paving the way for the coming of a
Redeemer for the human race. God was determined
to maintain that nation. And in spite of its idolatry
and its wickedness, God did maintain it. If it hadn’t
been for such leaders as the Judges (as fallibly
human as they were), and if God had not
miraculously intervened in times of crisis, Israel
would have been exterminated.
This stele of Pharaoh Merneptah (1224-1214 B.C.) contains
the first known reference to Israel outside the Bible: “Carried
off is Ashkelon; seized upon is Gezer; Yanoam is made as
that which does not exist; Israel is laid waste, his seed is not.”
There is no record in the Bible of Merneptah’s campaign
against Israel, but it must have taken place during the period of
the Judges. The stele is black granite, 7 1/2 feet high.
Ruth
The Beginning of the Messianic Family of
David
“Where you go I will go, and where you stay
I will stay. Your people will be my people
and your God my God. Where you die I will
die, and there I will be buried. ”
— Ruth 1:16-17
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his
wife . . . and she gave birth to a son.
And they named him Obed. . . . He was
the father of Jesse, the father of David.
— Ruth 4:13, 17
This lovely story of a lovely woman follows, like
calm after a storm, the turbulent scenes of Judges.
It is a delightful and charming picture of domestic
life in a time of anarchy and trouble.
A thousand years before, Abraham had been
called by God to found a nation for the purpose of
one day bringing a Savior to mankind. In this small
book of Ruth we have the founding of the family
within that nation into which the Savior would be
born. Ruth was the great-grandmother of King
David. From here on, the Old Testament centers
mainly around the family of David. And the New
Testament begins with a genealogy that begins with
Abraham and ends, via Boaz and Ruth, and via
David, with Jesus, “who is called Christ,” the
Messiah (Matthew 1:1—16).
The central theme of the book of Ruth is
redemption. The Hebrew word for redemption
occurs 23 times in the book of Ruth. Ruth may be
considered a “type” of the Christian church, while
Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer, is a type of Christ
who is our Redeemer.
Ruth 1 THE STAY IN MOAB
A family from Bethlehem — Elimelech and Naomi
and their two sons — went to live in Moab because
there was a famine in Israel. The Moabites were
descendants of Lot (Genesis 19:37) and thus
distantly related to the Jews. But they were
idolaters; their god, Chemosh, was worshiped with
child sacrifices. The two sons married Moabite
girls. Ten years later, after the father and both sons
had died, Ruth, the widow of one of the sons, in a
burst of devotion of superb beauty (1:16-17),
returned with Naomi to Bethlehem.
Ruth 2-4 RUTH AND BOAZ
In strict adherence to Hebrew law, Boaz invites an
unnamed kinsman-redeemer who has first rights to
redeem Naomi’s land. The unnamed kinsman-
redeemer declines his rights to redeem the land
when Boaz reminds him that if he buys the land, he
must also inherit the former landowner’s widow,
Naomi, and her widowed daughter-in-law, Ruth.
Boaz, the next eligible kinsman-redeemer, then
purchases the land and also acquires Ruth for
marriage. Boaz declares this redemption in the
midst of 10 witnesses so that there is no question
regarding the integrity of his actions.
Gil Id
In ancient cities, the gate served the same purpose as the
forum did later in Roman cities and public squares did in
European cities. Here people met, the king held audience, and
business was transacted. It was a more leisurely time: Boaz
waited until the person he needed to deal with showed up. In
later times, when cities were fortified, the gate also became a
key part of the city’s defense. This gate at Megiddo shows
rooms on both sides where defenders could hide.
The genealogy in 4:17-22 may actually be the
main reason why the book of Ruth was written. It
shows that Ruth and Boaz had a son, Obed, whose
son was Jesse, whose son was David.
Boaz was a descendant of Rahab, the prostitute
from Jericho (Joshua 2:1; Matthew 1:5; see on
Joshua 2). Thus David’s great-grandmother, Ruth,
was a Moabitess, and his great-grandfather, Boaz,
was part Canaanite. The chosen family within the
Chosen Nation thus has Canaanite and Moabite
blood in its veins.
It is fitting that from this bloodline would come
the Messiah for all nations. Rahab and Ruth
became part of God’s promises and His plan, not
by birth but by their faith in, and their practical
commitment to, God and His people — the same
way in which people from all nations still can
share in God’s eternal promises.
It was in a field near Bethlehem that Ruth
gleaned. Hundreds of years later, also in a field
near Bethlehem, angels announced the birth of
Ruth’s descendant, Jesus, to startled shepherds.
THE MONARCHY: DAVID.
SOLOMON. AND THE DIVIDED
KINGDOM
1 Samuel-2 Chronicles
The term monarchy refers to the time when God’s
people were ruled by earthly kings (and in one
instance a queen, Athaliah). The united monarchy
designates the time when both the northern and
southern groupings of tribes were united under one
king. The term usually refers to the days of David
and Solomon but sometimes is used to include
Saul’s kingship, which was just prior to David’s.
At the death of Solomon (930 b.c.) the kingdom
split into two parts: the southern (including Judah,
Benjamin, and Simeon) and the northern (the
remaining tribes). This period is known as the
divided monarchy.
The transition from the period of the Judges
(during which God raised up and empowered
specific persons for specific purposes) to that of a
“theocratic monarchy” (in which a king was to
reign over Israel as God’s representative) is
described in 1 Samuel. The identities of the
inspired authors of the books of Samuel and Kings
are unknown, and although early, perhaps partial,
editions of these books no doubt existed, both
books seem to be dealing with questions that Jews
may have been asking during the Babylonian exile
(586-538 B.c.). These exiles had recently
witnessed and experienced the downfall of the
Davidic monarchy (586 B.c,); the capture and
burning of Jerusalem and the temple; the ravaging
of their families, friends, and neighbors; and their
own deportation from the land. The totality of these
recent experiences stood in stark contrast to the
glorious (eternal!) promises that God had made to
their ancestors (for example, Genesis 12:1-4; 2
Samuel 7; Psalm 132).
BIBLICAL SOURCES FOR
THE PERIOD OF THE
UNITED AND DIVIDED
MONARCHIES
Period: Saul
Date: 1050-1010 B.c,
Major Biblical Passages: 1 Samuel 9-31;
1 Chronicles 8 and 10
Period: David
Date: 1010-970 b.c.
Major Biblical Passages: 1 Samuel 16-2
Samuel-1 Kings 2; 1 Chronicles 11-29
Period: Solomon
Date: 970-931 b.c.
Major Biblical Passages: 1 Kings 1-11; 2
Chronicles 1-9
Period: Divided Kingdom
Date: 931-722b.c,
Major Biblical Passages: 1 Kings 12-2
Kings 17; 2 Chronicles 10-28 Israel taken
into captivity by the Assyrians in 722 B.c.
Period: Judah alone
Date: 722-586 B.C
Major Biblical Passages: 2 Kings 18-25;
2 Chronicles 29-36 Judah taken into captivity
by the Babylonians in 586 B.c.
First Samuel seems to be answering the exiles’
question. How did we get a dynastic kingship in
the first place? In it, the author describes Samuel’s
role in anointing Saul and eventually David,
tracing the latter’s rise to power in contrast to
Saul’s tragic end.
Second Samuel seems to deal with the
question. Who was this David, the first king in his
dynasty, and what was so special about him? In
other words, why should we be so concerned
about the fate of his dynasty? The answer, of
course, is that God, through His prophets Samuel
and Nathan, had selected David and his successors
to be the ones through whom He would rule His
people (2 Samuel 7) — they would be “theocratic
monarchs.” Connected to this choice/promise were
the related promises that God would “dwell” in
Jerusalem, specifically in the temple, and that from
there He would rule over, protect, bless,
communicate with, forgive, and provide for His
people.
The exiles’ question was, Why did this disaster
happen to us? The answer given in the books of
Samuel and Kings is: you, your ancestors, and your
rulers, in spite of God’s call to repentance and
reform, have chosen, in general, the path of
disloyalty to God and of disobedience to the
stipulations of the “Torah” (= teaching) of the
Living God. This disloyalty was evident even as
the kingship was being established, it was evident
even in the life of the so-called ideal ruler David,
and it continued to be evident in the lives of
David’s successors and the people they governed.
Because of disloyalty and disobedience, the
covenant curses (see Leviticus 26 and
Deuteronomy 28) had fallen upon God’s people.
The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles cover much
the same period of Israel’s history, although they
trace Israel’s beginnings back to Adam Even
though the “chronicler” makes use of material from
Samuel and Kings, the perspective in these books
is a bit different. Most importantly, the message of
Chronicles was addressed to people who were
living in the post-exilic period (that is, some time
after the first return, under the leadership of
Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel, had taken place in
538 B.c.; see The Babylonian Exile and the Return
from Exile: Ezra-Esther ). Even though many of the
people receiving this message were living in the
Promised Land, even in Jerusalem, and were
worshiping God at the rebuilt temple, they were
well aware that this was not the glorious
restoration that previously had been promised by
their prophets. Indeed, they were living under the
dominating rule of a foreign power (the Persians),
there was no reigning Davidic king, the “glory of
God” had not returned to the rebuilt temple, and
life in the land was not the sought-for “rest” that
had been promised. Their question seems to have
been, Is there any future for us, for God’s people?
FAST FACTS ON THE
DIVIDED KINGDOM
North (Israel)
Capitals: Shechem, Penuel, Tirzah, Samaria
Number of kings: 19
Dynasties: 9
Rulers assassinated or suicide: 8
Worship centers: Bethel, Dan, Samaria (plus
others)
Destruction of the kingdoms: 722 B.c. by the
Assyrians
Major enemies at various times: Southern
(Judean) kingdom, Philistia, Arameans
(Damascus), Edomites, Assyrians
South (Judah)
Capitals Jerusalem
Number of kings: 19 and one queen
Dynasties: 1 (Davidic)
Rulers assassinated or suicide: 4 (plus 2
killed by non-Judeans)
Worship centers: Jerusalem (plus others)
Destruction of the kingdoms: 586 b.c. by the
Babylonians
Major enemies at various times: Northern
(Israelite) kingdom, Egypt (including
Ethiopia), Philistia, Ammonites, Arameans
(Damascus), Edomites, Moabites, Assyrians,
Egyptians, Babylonians
The chronicler’s answer is yes. He emphasizes
that the chief legacy of the Davidic dynasty was
actually the temple and its service (via the
Levitical priesthood). In the chronicler’s
presentation of Israel’s history, emphasis is placed
on David as the one making preparations for
building the temple, on Solomon as the temple
builder, and on God-fearing rulers such as
Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah who instigated
and led religious reforms.
So, in spite of the fact that conditions were not
yet all that had been promised, the small and
struggling Judean community had a great history
and heritage, and they were being encouraged to
follow in the more positive footsteps of previous
godly rulers and generations as they awaited God’s
fuller restoration of the land, the temple, and the
ideal Davidic ruler — the Anointed One, the
Messiah.
Thus historical books such as Samuel, Kings,
and Chronicles should be read, not as mere
political, economic, military, or ethnic history, but
as a “re -presentation” of Israel’s history (almost
like an extended sermon) that addressed, in the
first instance, the readers/hearers of the exilic and
post-exilic periods.
If you read only one chapter in the books of
Samuel, Kings, or Chronicles, be sure to read 2
Samuel 9!
1 Samuel
Samuel, the Last Judge
Saul, the First King; David, God’s King
(approx. 1100-1050 b.c.)
“As for me, far be it from me that I should
sin against the Lord by failing to pray for
you. And I will teach you the way that is
good and right. ”
— 1 Samuel 12:23
“The Lord does not look at the things man
looks at. Man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the
heart. ”
— 1 Samuel 16:7
In the Hebrew Old Testament, 1 and 2 Samuel
are one book called Samuel. The translators of the
Septuagint divided this writing into two books
called the “First and Second Books of the
Kingdoms.”
First Samuel begins with the background and
birth of Samuel. He began his preparation for
ministry and leadership as a small boy serving Eli.
Eventually Samuel’s influence as a prophet, priest,
and Judge extended throughout the nation. Samuel
anointed both Saul and David as kings, marking the
transition from the period of the Judges to the
monarchy.
Samuel, Kings, and
Chronicles
The entire history of the kingdom of Israel is
told in the two books of Samuel and the two
books of Kings. The books of Chronicles tell
the same story.
In broad outline,
• 1-2 Samuel = 1 Chronicles
• 1-2 Kings = 2 Chronicles (both 1
Kings and 2 Chronicles begin with
Solomon)
The main differences are that
• 1 Chronicles begins with a lengthy
genealogy — beginning with Adam — but it
omits the stories of Samuel and Saul
(except for Saul’s suicide);
• 2 Chronicles omits entirely the history of
the northern kingdom.
Author
The author of the book of Samuel is unknown.
While Samuel is the subject of the book, it is
unlikely that he actually wrote this book, since his
death is recorded in 1 Samuel 25:1. Whoever
wrote these books used the Book of Jashar as a
source (2 Samuel 1:18) and may also have had
access to other sources from this period, such as
the Annals of King David (1 Chronicles 27:24)
and the records of Samuel, Nathan, and Gad (1
Chronicles 29:29).
The Scene of Samuel’s Ministry
The Four Towns of Samuel’s Judicial and
Priestly Circuit
• Ramah, about five miles north of Jerusalem,
was his birthplace, judicial residence, and
place of burial (1:19; 7:17; 25:1).
• Bethel, about seven miles north of Ramah,
was Samuel’s northern office. It was one of
the four highest points in the land (the others
are Mount Ebal, Hebron, and Mizpah). The
view over the land from Bethel is
magnificent. Here, 800 years before, Jacob
had seen the heavenly ladder (Genesis 28:1 0—
20 ).
• Mizpah, 2 1/2 miles northwest of Ramah,
was an important gathering place for the
tribes of Israel during the days of Samuel ( 1
Samuel 7:5-7; 10:17).
• Gilgal, about 10 miles east of Ramah, near
Jericho, was the place where the Israelites
camped after crossing the Jordan under
Joshua and where Joshua had placed a
memorial (Joshua 4:19-24). It continued as a
worship center during the days of Samuel and
Saul.
Other Towns
• Gibeah (Tell-el-Ful), about two miles south
of Ramah, was Saul’s capital.
• Gibeon, 2 1/2 miles west of Ramah, was
where Saul grew up, and the “High Place of
Gibeon” (1 Samuel 13:3) was located only
one mile southwest of Gibeon, at Nebi
Samwil. This was an important worship site
for the tribes of Israel; later the tabernacle
was placed here (2 Chronicles 1:5).
Bethlehem, David’s birthplace and later the
birthplace of Jesus, was 11 miles south of
Ramah.
Shiloh, about 15 miles north of Ramah, was
where the tabernacle stood from the time of
Joshua to Samuel and where Samuel
ministered as a child at the tabernacle.
Kiriath Jearim, where the ark of the covenant
was kept after its return from the Philistines,
was about nine miles southwest of Ramah.
Jerusalem, about five miles south of Ramah,
was still in the hands of the Jebusites in
Samuel’s day. It was later captured by David.
Samuel's Ministry
1 Sam. 1:1-2:11 BIRTH OF
SAMUEL
Samuel was of the tribe of Levi (1 Chronicles
6:33-38). His mother, Hannah, was a marvelous
example of motherhood; her son turned out to be
one of the noblest and purest characters in history.
Shiloh (1:3).
• Joshua set up the tabernacle in Shiloh (Joshua
18:1). Every year Israel went to Shiloh to
bring sacrifices (1 Samuel 1:3).
• David brought the ark of the covenant to
Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:15) about 1000 B.c.
• Jeremiah (7:12-15), about 600 b.c,, refers to
Shiloh as being in ruins. The implication of
these passages is that Shiloh was an important
city during the period from Joshua to Samuel,
and that sometime before 600 B.c. it was
destroyed, deserted, and ceased to exist.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Shiloh.
Danish, and later Israeli, excavations at Shiloh
have found that it was a worship center from 1650
B.c, During the Canaanite occupation it was
surrounded by a massive wall, which in places is
preserved to a height of 25 feet. Excavations
demonstrate that it was a worship center when
occupied by the Israelites as well. Some have
speculated that the tabernacle was set up on
several rock-cut terraces on the north side of the
tell. The site was destroyed in 1050 B.c., probably
by the Philistines.
Ruins of Shiloh. Immediately after the conquest of Canaan
under Joshua, the tabernacle was set up in Shiloh (Joshua
18:1). It apparently remained there until the days of Samuel.
The tabernacle itself may have been replaced by a more
permanent structure during that time (1 Samuel 3:3, “temple”;
1 Samuel 3:15, “doors”).
1 Sam. 2:12-36 CHANGE IN THE
PRIESTHOOD ANNOUNCED
Hannah’s prophetic prayers in 2:31-35 seem to
have application to Samuel, who succeeded Eli as
Judge and also as acting priest (7:9; 9:11-14); but
they also have reference to a priesthood that shall
last forever (2:35).
They were fulfilled when Solomon displaced
Abiathar of Eli’s family with Zadok of another line
(1 Kings 2:27; 1 Chronicles 24:3, 6). But their
ultimate fulfillment is in the eternal priesthood of
Christ. In chapters 8-10, we are told how Samuel
initiated a change in the form of government, from
government by Judges to a kingdom. Under the
kingdom, the offices of king and priest were kept
separate.
Here in verse 35 an eternal priesthood is
promised, and in 2 Samuel 7: 16 David is promised
an eternal throne. The eternal priesthood and the
eternal throne looked forward to the Messiah, in
whom they merged — Christ became man’s eternal
Priest and eternal King. The temporary merging of
the offices of Judge and priest in the person of
Samuel, during the period of transition from Judges
to kingdom, seems to have been a sort of historical
foreshadowing of the final fusing of the two offices
in Christ. In addition, Samuel was recognized as a
prophet (1 Samuel 3:20), which is the third office
that Christ combined in Himself (see Deuteronomy
18:15, “a prophet like me”): King (Judge), Priest,
and Prophet.
Prophets
The word “prophet” occurs occasionally
before the time of Samuel, as in Genesis 20:7
and Exodus 7:1. But Samuel appears to have
been the founder of a regular order of
prophets, with schools first at Ramah (1
Samuel 19:20) and later at Bethel, Jericho,
and Gilgal (2 Kings 2:3, 5; 4:38).
The priesthood had become quite
degenerate, and when Samuel organized the
kingdom, he initiated, it seems, these schools
as a sort of moral check on both priests and
kings.
These prophets functioned for a period of
some 300 years before the prophets who
wrote the last 17 books of the Old Testament.
The early prophets are called “oral prophets,”
to distinguish them from the writing or literary
prophets who wrote the books.
The leading oral prophets with whom we are
familiar are Samuel, the organizer of the
kingdom; Nathan, an adviser to David; Ahijah,
an adviser to Jeroboam; and Elijah and
Elisha, who led the grand fight against
Baalism.
For more on the prophets, see the chapter on
The Prophets: Isaiah-Malachi .
1 Sam. 3 SAMUEL’S
PROPHETIC CALL
Samuel was a prophet (3:20). He served as a
priest, offering sacrifices (7:9). And he judged
Israel (7:15-17). His circuit included Bethel,
Gilgal, and Mizpah, with his main office at Ramah.
He was the last Judge, the first prophet, and the
founder of the monarchy. His main mission was the
organization of the kingdom
The form of government under the Judges had
been a failure (see introductory note to the book of
Judges). So God raised up Samuel to unify the
nation under a king. (See below on chapters 8-10.)
1 Sam. 4-7 THE ARK IS
CAPTURED BY THE
PHILISTINES
The ark, after its capture by the Philistines, was
never taken back to Shiloh, and Shiloh ceased to
be a place of importance. The ark remained in
Philistine cities for seven months, during which
time the Philistines suffered great plagues. So great
were the plagues that the Philistines pleaded to
Israel to take back the ark — which they gleefully
did! It was taken to Beth Shemesh and then to
Kiriath Jearim, where it remained for 20 years
(7:2). Later it was taken to Jerusalem by David,
who built a tent for it (2 Samuel 6: 12; 2 Chronicles
1:4). It stayed in that tent until Solomon built the
temple. Nothing is known of the history of the ark
after the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Babylonians some 450 years later.
The tabernacle, after the ark was gone from
Shiloh, was apparently moved to Nob (21:1; Mark
2:26) and then to Gibeon (1 Chronicles 21:29)
until Solomon put it in the temple (1 Kings 8:4).
After the return of the ark from the Philistines,
Samuel, with the aid of God, administered a
terrific defeat to the Philistines at the place where
they had captured the ark (4: 1 ; 7: 12).
1 Sam. 8-10 ORGANIZATION OF
THE KINGDOM
Up to this time the form of government had been
the theocracy (see Judges ). In a predatory world
that only recognized the law of the jungle, a nation
needed to be fairly strong in order to survive. So
God, accommodating Himself to human ways,
permitted His nation to unify, as other nations did,
under a king. The first king, Saul, was a failure.
But the second king, David, was a magnificent
success.
3 t ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Saul’s
House in Gibeah. “Saul also went to his home
in Gibeah” (10:26). William F. Albright (1922-23)
found in Gibeah, in the stratum of 1050 B.C., the
ruins of the small fortress Saul had built.
1 Sam. 11-15 SAUL AS KING
Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin, which had
almost been annihilated in the days of the Judges,
and of the city of Gibeah, where the horrible story
had started (see Judges 19-21).
Tall, handsome, and humble, Saul began his
reign with a brilliant victory over the Ammonites.
Any misgivings about the new kingdom
disappeared.
Then followed Samuel’s warning, to nation and
king, not to forget God, a warning confirmed by a
miraculous thunderstorm (chap. 12).
Saul’s first mistake (chap. 13). His successes
rapidly went to his head. Humility gave place to
pride. He offered sacrifices, which was the
exclusive function of priests. This was the first
sign of Saul’s growing sense of self-importance.
Saul’s second mistake (chap. 14). His silly
order for the army to abstain from food, and his
senseless death sentence for Jonathan, showed the
people what a fool they had for a king.
Saul’s third mistake (chap. 15). This time
Saul deliberately disobeyed God. For this he heard
Samuel’s ominous pronouncement, “Because you
have rejected God, God has rejected you from
being king.”
1 Sam. 16 DAVID SECRETLY
ANOINTED TO BE KING
The anointing could not have been done openly, for
then Saul would have killed David. Its purpose
was to give David a chance to train himself for the
office. God took David under His care (v. 13).
David was short of stature, of fair complexion
and handsome, of immense physical strength and
great personal attractiveness, a man of war,
prudent in speech, very brave, musical, and
religious.
His fame as a musician brought him to the
notice of King Saul, who did not at the time know
that David had been anointed to be his successor.
David became Saul’s armor-bearer. This brought
David into close association with the king and his
counselors, so that unknowingly Saul helped train
David for his future responsibilities as king.
1 Sam. 17 DAVID AND GOLIATH
It seems that David’s first residence at the court
was only temporary and that he returned to
Bethlehem Some years passed, and the boy David
had so changed in appearance that Saul did not
recognize him(vv. 55-58).
Socoh, where Goliath was encamped, was
some 14 miles west of Bethlehem. Goliath was
about nine feet tall. His armor weighed about 120
pounds, and his spearhead alone about 15 pounds.
David’s offer to take on Goliath with only a staff
and a sling was an act of unheard-of bravery and
amazing trust in God. His victory thrilled the
nation. He became the king’s son-in-law,
commander of the armies, and the nation’s popular
hero.
1 Sam. 18-20 SAUL’S
JEALOUSY OF DAVID
David’s popularity turned Saul against him. Saul
tried to kill him, but David fled and for years was
a fugitive in the mountains and in the wilderness.
Jonathan’s friendship for David (chap. 20).
Jonathan was heir to the throne. His brilliant
victory over the Philistines (chap. 14) and his
nobility of character were good evidence that he
would have made a worthy king. But he had found
out that God had ordained David to be king, and
his graceful self-effacement in giving up his
succession to the throne and his unselfish devotion
to David, whom he could have hated as a rival,
form one of the noblest stories of friendship in
history. Jonathan initiated a covenant with David,
symbolized by the giving of robe, tunic, sword,
bow, and belt. This act reflected Jonathan’s
recognition that David would take Jonathan’s place
as Saul’s successor.
1 Sam. 21-27 DAVID A FUGITIVE
FROM SAUL
David escaped to the Philistines, feigning insanity.
Sensing danger, he fled first to the cave of Adullam
in west Judah, then to Moab, then back to south
Judah, where he stayed in Keilah, Ziph, and Maon.
He had accumulated 600 followers. Saul was in
hot pursuit, but David always escaped. A number
of the Psalms were composed by David during this
period (Psalms 18, 52, 54, 57, 59).
At En-gedi, Saul was trapped. But David
refused to come to the throne by murder, no matter
how justified it might seem, and spared Saul’s life.
Again, at Ziph, Saul acknowledged being a fool —
but kept on being one.
Samuel died, and all Israel came together and
mourned him He was buried in Ramah (1 Samuel
25:1).
At Maon, David met Abigail, a woman whom
God provided as a pattern of good behavior in an
unfortunate marriage. She eventually became
David’s wife. David finally found refuge among
the Philistines again and stayed there until the
death of Saul.
i l
1 Sam. 28-31 THE DEATH OF
SAUL
The Philistines invaded the land and encamped at
Mount Gilboa. One of the Philistine princes had
wanted David and his men to go along with them.
But the other princes did not trust David. So David
remained behind and with his 600 men guarded the
south against the Amalekites.
In the meantime, Saul was thoroughly
frightened and sought, through a witch at Endor, an
interview with the spirit of Samuel. The
straightforward simplicity of the narrative seems to
imply that the spirit of Samuel did actually appear.
However, there is difference of opinion as to
whether the apparition was real or fraudulent. At
any rate, Saul committed suicide in the battle. He
had reigned 40 years (Acts 13:21).
3 f ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The Fate of
Saul’s Head and Armor. It is stated in 31:10
that “they put [Saul’s] armor in the temple of the
Ashtoreths” in Beth Shan, and in 1 Chronicles
10:10 it is said that they “hung up his head in the
temple of Dagon.”
Beth Shan (Beisan) is just east of Mount
Gilboa, at the junction of the Jezreel and Jordan
valleys. The University Museum of Pennsylvania
(1921-33) uncovered, in an 11th-century B.c.
stratum at Beth Shan, the ruins of twin temples,
which may have been the very buildings in which
Saul’s armor and head were fastened; at least, it is
proof that there were such temples in Beth Shan in
Saul’s day.
2 Samuel
The Reign of David
(approx. 1010-970 b.c.)
“When your days are over and you rest with
your fathers, I will raise up your offspring
to succeed you, who will come from your
own body, and I will establish his
kingdom. . . .
“ Your house and your kingdom will
endure forever before me; your throne will
be established forever. ”
— 2 Samuel 7:12, 16
The second book of Samuel continues the history
of God’s establishment of the kingdom of Israel. It
begins with David becoming king over Judah and
eventually over all of Israel. It tells of David’s 40-
year reign, including his wars; his capture of
Jerusalem and the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem;
God’s promise of an everlasting kingdom; his sin
with Bathsheba; and the loss of his sons. The book
ends with David reflecting on his life in what is
perhaps his last poetic testimony.
2 Sam. 1-6 DAVID BECOMES
KING OVER ALL OF ISRAEL
It is helpful to read 2 Samuel 1-6 and 1 Chronicles
11-16 together, since this clearly shows the
difference in focus between, on the one hand, the
books of Samuel and Kings, and on the other, the
books of Chronicles. (For a description of these
differences, see the sidebar below.)
Both 2 Samuel 1-6 and 1 Chronicles 11-13
cover the period from the death of Saul up to
God’s promise to David. But 2 Samuel 1-6
describes at some length the war between the
house of Saul and the house of David and the
intrigues it involved, while 1 Chronicles 11-16
skips the war with the house of Saul and goes into
detail about David’s mighty men and warriors.
Chronicles also pays more attention to the ark of
the covenant: it describes the return of the ark from
the Philistines who had captured it (chap. 13), an
event that is ignored in 2 Samuel, and it devotes
two chapters (15-16) to the bringing of the ark to
Jerusalem, which is covered in a single chapter (6)
in 2 Samuel.
Samuel, Kings, and
Chronicles
The entire history of the kingdom of Israel is
told in the two books of Samuel and the two
books of Kings. The books of Chronicles tell
the same story.
In broad outline,
1-2 Samuel = 1 Chronicles
• 1-2 Kings = 2 Chronicles (both 1
Kings and 2 Chronicles begin with
Solomon)
The main differences are that
• 1 Chronicles begins with a lengthy
genealogy — beginning with Adam — but it
omits the stories of Samuel and Saul
(except for Saul’s suicide);
• 2 Chronicles omits entirely the history of
the northern kingdom.
Jerusalem
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Gihon
Spring and Ancient Water System. The one
natural water source for the city of Jerusalem is the
Gihon Spring, situated down in the Kidron Valley.
The ancient core of Jerusalem developed just to
the west of this spring, on a defensible hill. It is
because of this spring that the city of Jerusalem
was built here.
The tunnels, shafts, and towers close to this
spring have been carefully studied by scholars
since the 19th century. It appears that the pre-
Israelite population built massive towers to guard
the water sources, and they also enlarged natural
tunnels and shafts that led from inside the city to
the spring. In this way they were able to draw
water from the spring during times of siege without
ever having to go outside of the city walls. It is
probable that Joab led David’s troops through this
tunnel system and thus captured the city from the
Jebusites: “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites
will have to use the water shaft to reach those
Tame and blind’ who are David’s enemies” (2
Samuel 5:8; compare also 1 Chronicles 11:4-9).
3 f ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Millo. In her
excavations of the old ancient core of the City of
David, Kathleen Kenyon and, after her, Yigal
Shiloh discovered that Jerusalem had been built on
a series of ascending terraces. These terraces were
constructed by building a retaining wall, and fdling
(Heb. mill o) in behind it. Then houses and other
structures were built on the fill ( millo ). One of the
duties of a good king, from the time of David
onward, was to build up “the area around it [i.e.,
the City of David], from the supporting terraces
[Heb. millo] inward” (2 Samuel 5:9).
This water shaft at Gibeon goes down some 33 feet and leads
to a tunnel 40 feet long. At the end is a water chamber that
may be the pool of Gibeon referred to in 2 Samuel 2:12. After
the fall of Jericho, the Gibeonites tricked Joshua into making a
treaty with them (Joshua 9-10). It was when Joshua defended
Gibeon from the Amorites that the sun stood still over the city.
2 Sam. 7 GOD PROMISES DAVID
AN ETERNAL THRONE
The Old Testament is the story of God’s dealings
with the Hebrew nation for the purpose of one day
blessing all nations.
As the story unfolds, it is explained that the
way the Hebrew nation would bless all nations is
through the family of David. It is further explained
that the family of David would bless the world
through a great King who would one day be born
into the family, a King who would live forever and
establish a kingdom of endless duration.
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The David
Inscription at Dan. Until recently, no mention of
“David” had been found in any extrabiblical text
dating to the Old Testament period. Now fragments
of a carved stone victory stele have been found at
Dan — one of the northernmost towns in Israel.
Beautifully inscribed, the stele describes in
Aramaic the victory of the king of Aram
(Damascus) over the kings of Israel and Judah.
Among the lines is a mentioning of “the house of
David” — a clear reference to the Davidic dynasty,
some 150 to 200 years after David had died.
2 Sam. 8-10 DAVID’S VICTORIES
After Saul’s death, David had been made king over
Judah. Seven years later he was made king over all
of Israel. He was 30 when he became king. He
reigned over Judah alone for 7 1/2 years, and over
all of Israel for 33 years, a total of 40 years (5:3—
5). He died at age 70.
Soon after becoming king over all Israel,
David made Jerusalem his capital. Situated in an
impregnable position, with valleys on three sides,
and with the tradition of Melchizedek, the priest of
God Most High (Genesis 14:18; Salem is thought
to be the ancient name for Jerusalem — compare
Psalm 76:2), David decided to make it his nation’s
capital. He took it, brought in the ark of God, and
planned the temple (chaps. 5-7), which his son
Solomon would build.
David was very successful in his wars. He
completely subdued the Philistines, Moabites,
Syrians, Edomites, Ammonites, Amalekites, and
all neighboring nations. “The Lord gave David
victory wherever he went” (8:6).
David took an insignificant nation and in a few
years built it into a mighty kingdom. In the
southwest, the Egyptian world empire had
declined. In the east, in Mesopotamia, the Assyrian
and Babylonian world empires had not yet arisen.
And here, on the highway between Egypt and
Mesopotamia, the kingdom of Israel under David
became almost overnight, not a world empire, but
perhaps the single most powerful kingdom on earth
at the time.
The Promises
Thus the promise of an eternal king who was
to come from David’s family was repeated
over and over — to David himself, to Solomon,
and again and again in the Psalms and by the
prophets Amos, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, and
Zechariah, over a period of some 500 years.
When the time came, the angel Gabriel was
sent to Nazareth, to Mary, who was of the
family of David, and he said:
“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor
with God. You will be with child and give birth
to a son, and you are to give him the name
Jesus. He will be great and will be called the
Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give
him the throne of his father David, and he will
reign over the house of Jacob forever; his
kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:30-33).
In this Child the promises to and about David
found their fulfillment.
2 Sam. 11-12 DAVID AND
BATHSHEBA
This was the blackest spot in David’s life: adultery
and instigation to murder to cover up the adultery.
His remorse made him a broken man. God forgave
him but pronounced a fearful sentence: “The sword
will never depart from your house” (12:10) — and
it never did. David reaped exactly what he had
sown, and even more — a long, hard, and bitter
harvest. His daughter Tamar was raped by her
brother Amnon, who in turn was murdered by their
brother Absalom. Absalom led a rebellion against
his father David and was killed in the struggle.
David’s wives were violated in public, as he had
secretly violated the wife of Uriah. Thus David’s
glorious reign was clouded by unceasing troubles.
What a lesson for those who think they can sin, and
sin, and sin, and get away with it!
And yet — this was the man after God’s own
heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). David’s
reactions showed him to be just that. Some of the
Psalms (for example, 32 and 51) were born of this
bitter experience.
2 Sam. 13-21 DAVID’S
TROUBLES
Absalom probably knew that Solomon was to be
David’s successor as king, hence this effort to steal
the throne from his father David. Judging by the
space given to the account of Absalom, it must
have been one of the most troublesome things in
David’s reign. It involved the defection of some of
David’s advisers and utterly broke his heart. But
Absalom was finally killed, and David was
restored to his throne. (For a note on the gateway
mentioned in 18:33, see Ruth and Boaz in the
chapter on Ruth.)
Then followed Sheba’s rebellion (chap. 20).
Absalom’s attempted usurpation probably
weakened David’s hold on the people. So Sheba
tried his hand at it, but soon was crushed. Then the
Philistines grew bold again (chap. 21), but again
David was victorious.
2 Sam. 22 DAVID’S SONG OF
PRAISE
Here, as in many psalms, David exhibits his
unfailing trust in God and his unbounded gratitude
to God for His constant care.
TKc Kingdoms of Saul. David, and Solomon
2 Sam. 23 DAVID’S LAST
WORDS
This is David’s last psalm. It shows what David’s
mind was focused on at the close of his glorious
but troubled life: the justice of his reign as king,
his creation of the Psalms, his devotion to God’s
Word, and God’s covenant with him that promised
an eternal dynasty.
2 Sam. 24 THE PEOPLE
NUMBERED
It is difficult to see just why the taking of a national
census was a sin. God Himself had ordered such a
census both at the beginning and at the end of the
40 years of wilderness wanderings (Numbers 1:2;
26:2). In this case, David’s decision to count the
people may indicate that he who had so
consistently, all his life, relied implicitly on God
was beginning to rely on the greatness of his
kingdom. The census was Satan’s idea (1
Chronicles 21:1). Satan may have considered it an
opportunity to move David away from his trust in
God to trust in himself. At any rate, God regarded
the act as a sin to be punished.
The census showed a population of about a
million and a half fighting men, exclusive of Levi
and Benjamin (1 Chronicles 21:5), which would
mean a total population of probably about 6 to 8
million.
In punishment, God sent the plague. The Angel
of the Lord, who brought the plague, was stopped
by God at a place near Jerusalem, the threshing
floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David bought the
threshing floor from Araunah, so that it became the
royal property of the House of David. David built
an altar on it (v. 25) and later Solomon built the
temple there (2 Chronicles 3:1).
David
All in all, David was a grand character. He did
some things that were very wrong, but he was a
most remarkable man, especially when viewed in
the light of his time and in comparison with other
oriental rulers. He was, heart and soul, devoted to
God and the ways of God. In a world of idolatry
and in a nation that was continually falling away
into idolatry, David stood like a rock for God. In
every circumstance of life he went directly to God,
in prayer, in thanks, in repentance, or in praise. His
two great accomplishments were the kingdom and
the Psalms.
1 Kings
The Reign of Solomon
The Division and Decay of the Kingdom
Elijah
Elijah went before the people and said,
“How long will you waver between two
opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but
if Baal is God, follow him. ”
— 1 Kings 18:21
Parallel stories should be read in both 1 Kings and
in 2 Chronicles, since they often include different
details and even events.
In the Hebrew Old Testament, 1 and 2 Kings
are one book. The translators of the Septuagint
divided it into two books. First Kings opens with
the Hebrew nation in its glory. Second Kings
closes with the nation in ruin. Together they cover
a period of about 400 years, approximately 970-
586 B.c, Except for a few high spots, the story that
begins full of promise with the golden age of
Hebrew history soon turns into a sad story of
division and decay and ends with the destruction of
Jerusalem and the deportation of the citizens of
what was left of David and Solomon’s once mighty
kingdom.
Samuel, Kings, and
Chronicles
The entire history of the kingdom of Israel is
told in the two books of Samuel and the two
books of Kings. The books of Chronicles tell
the same story.
In broad outline,
1-2 Samuel = 1 Chronicles
• 1-2 Kings = 2 Chronicles (both 1
Kings and 2 Chronicles begin with
Solomon)
The main differences are that
• 1 Chronicles begins with a lengthy
genealogy — beginning with Adam — but it
omits the stories of Samuel and Saul
(except for Saul’s suicide);
• 2 Chronicles omits entirely the history of
the northern kingdom.
Author
The author of the books of Kings is not known. A
Jewish tradition says that it was Jeremiah.
Whoever the author was, he makes frequent
reference to state annals and other historical
records that existed in his day, such as the Book of
the Acts of Solomon, the Book of the Chronicles of
the Kings of Judah, and the Book of the Chronicles
of the Kings of Israel (1 Kings 11:41; 14:19, 29;
15:7, 23, 31; 16:5, 14, 27, etc.). It appears that
there was an abundance of written records to
which the author had access, guided, of course, by
the Spirit of God.
1 Kings 1-2 SOLOMON
BECOMES KING
Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba, the
wife of Uriah (2 Samuel 11:1-12:24). Though not
in line for the succession, he was chosen by David,
and approved by God, to be David’s successor
(1:30; 1 Chronicles 22:9-10).
Adonijah, David’s fourth son, it seems, was
heir expectant to the throne (2:15, 22; 2 Samuel
3:3-4), for the three eldest sons (Amnon, Absalom,
and probably Chiliab) were dead. So while David
was on his deathbed, and before Solomon was
formally anointed king, Adonijah plotted to seize
the kingdom. But the plot was thwarted by Nathan
the prophet. Solomon was generous in his
treatment of Adonijah. But Adonijah persisted in
his effort to steal the throne, and it was not long
until he also was executed (1 Kings 1:1-2:25).
King David was buried in the City of David (the ancient core of
Jerusalem just south of the temple), as were all kings of Judah
through Ahaz. The largest opening may be the tomb of David.
Not much can be seen, since the site was quarried extensively
during the Roman period.
1 Kings 3 SOLOMON CHOOSES
WISDOM
This event took place at Gibeon (3:4), where at the
time the tabernacle and the bronze altar were
located (1 Chronicles 21:29), about six miles
northwest of Jerusalem. The ark had been brought
to Jerusalem by David (3:15; 2 Samuel 6:1-16).
God told Solomon to ask whatever he wanted.
Solomon asked for wisdom to govern his people.
That pleased God, and God richly rewarded him
(vv. 10-12) — a marvelous picture of true greatness
and youthful piety!
“So give your servant a discerning heart
to govern your people and to distinguish
between right and wrong. For who is
able to govern this great people of
yours?”
— 1 Kings 3:9
i i
1 Kings 4 SOLOMON’S POWER,
WEALTH, AND WISDOM
Solomon had inherited the throne of the most
powerful kingdom then in existence. It was an era
of peace and prosperity. Solomon had vast
business enterprises and was famous for his
literary attainments. He wrote 3000 proverbs,
more than 1000 songs, and scientific works on
botany and zoology (vv. 32-33). He wrote
Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs (also called the
Song of Solomon), as well as most of the book of
Proverbs.
1 Kings 5-8 SOLOMON BUILDS
THE TEMPLE
Solomon began building the temple in the fourth
year of his reign. He built it according to specific
design instructions that God had given to his father,
David. The temple was finished in roughly seven
years.
(See on 2 Chronicles 2-7.)
1 Kings 9-10 THE SPLENDOR
OF SOLOMON’S KINGDOM
These two chapters are an expansion of chapter 4.
Solomon devoted himself to commerce and
gigantic public works. He made a deal with the
king of Tyre that allowed him to use his navy on the
Mediterranean. He had a navy at Ezion Geber, on
the Gulf of Aqaba, and controlled the trade route
south through Edom to the coasts of Arabia, India,
and Africa. He built his empire by peaceful
commerce.
The era of David and Solomon was the golden
age of Hebrew history. David was a warrior;
Solomon was a builder. David made the kingdom;
Solomon built the temple. In the world outside
Israel, this was the age of Homer, the beginning of
Greek history. Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon were
weak. Israel was the most powerful kingdom in all
the Ancient Near East, Jerusalem one of the most
magnificent cities, and the temple one of the most
splendid buildings. People came from the ends of
the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom and see his
glory. The famous Queen of Sheba exclaimed, “Not
even half was told me (10:7).”
Solomon’s annual income and his supply of
gold were enormous: he made large shields of gold
and small shields of gold, all the vessels of his
palace were made of gold, his throne was ivory
overlaid with gold. Gold was as common in
Jerusalem as stones (10:10-22; 2 Chronicles
1:15). Within five years after Solomon’s death,
Shishak, king of Egypt, came and took all this gold
away (14:25-26; 2 Chronicles 12:2, 9-11).
3 : ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The Water
System at Megiddo. Although not mentioned
frequently in Scripture, this city sat astride one of
the great trade routes of antiquity. When the
Egyptian king Thutmose III conquered the city (ca.
1482 B.c.), he said that the “capture of Megiddo,
was like the capture of a thousand towns” — so
great was its importance. At Megiddo, a gate,
wall, palaces, and storerooms from the time of
Solomon have been discovered. During the days of
wicked Ahab, a vertical shaft, 120 feet deep, was
cut on the west side of the mound, and a 215-foot
horizontal tunnel was then cut in order to bring
water from outside the city to inside its walls, in
order to provide its residents with water during
times of siege. Throughout history the armies of the
world have attempted to control this strategic spot,
and so it has become the symbol for the great final
battle (Revelation 16:16), the “Battle of
Armageddon” (Heb. Har [mount] Megiddo).
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The Fate of
Solomon’s Gold. Records show that Shishak
and his son Osorkon gave over 383 tons of
precious metal to the Egyptian deities. Perhaps
some of this was the very same gold Shishak had
taken from Solomon’s son Rehoboam
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Solomon’s
Stables. The author speaks of Solomon’s horses
and chariots in 10:26, 28. Megiddo, along with
Gezer and Hazor, is named as one of the cities
Solomon fortified and where he possibly housed
his chariots and horses (9:15, 19).
The remains of the city of Megiddo. (Note the partial tell that
has not yet been excavated.) Solomon had the walls of the city
built with forced labor. Later, King Josiah battled Pharaoh Neco
of Egypt in the plain of Megiddo and was killed (2 Chronicles
35:22). Here in the plain of Megiddo the great battle of the End,
the battle of Armageddon (Har Megiddo) will be fought
(Revelation 16:16).
The Oriental Institute uncovered structures at
Megiddo that may be Solomon’s stables (although
some archaeologists believe that the structures may
have been used as storerooms; and some would
actually date them to the time of Ahab rather than
Solomon). (See also ARCHAEOLOGICAL
NOTE: Shiloh in 1 Samuel.)
I t ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Solomon’s
Navy at Ezion Geber. Solomon built a navy in
Ezion Geber (9:26). This was for his trade with
Arabia, India, and the east coast of Africa. Ezion
Geber was located at the north end of the Gulf of
Akaba, on the Red Sea, although its exact location
is not certain. Some have suggested Tell el-
Kheleifeh (excavated by Nelson Glueck), while
others suggest identifying it with the island
anchorage called Jezirat Faraun, nine miles
southwest of the northern tip of the Red Sea.
1 Kings 11 SOLOMON’S WIVES
AND APOSTASY
Solomon’s glorious reign was clouded by a grand
mistake: his marriage to women from other nations,
who brought their idols with them He had 700
wives and 300 concubines (11:3), which would
seem to make this wise man of the ages, in this
respect at least, just a plain common fool. Many of
these women were daughters of gentile princes,
whom he married for the sake of political alliance.
For them, he who had built God’s temple built
heathen altars alongside it. Thus idolatry, which
David had been so zealous to suppress, was
reestablished in the palace. This brought to a close
the glorious era ushered in by David and started
the nation on its road to ruin. The besotted
apostasy of Solomon’s old age is one of the most
pitiful spectacles in the Bible. Perhaps the account
of it was intended by God to be an example of
what luxury and ceaseless rounds of pleasure will
do to even the best of men.
The high place at Dan, where King Jeroboam placed one of
the golden calves. (The other one was near the southern
border, close to Jerusalem, in Bethel.)
1 Kings 12 THE DIVISION OF
THE KINGDOM
The kingdom had lasted 120 years: 40 years under
Saul (Acts 13:21), 40 years under David (2
Samuel 5:4), and 40 years under Solomon (1 Kings
11:42). After Solomon’s death the kingdom was
divided. Ten tribes formed the northern kingdom
and took the name “Israel” with them. The two
remaining tribes, Judah and Benjamin, formed the
southern kingdom, called “Judah.”
The northern kingdom lasted a little over 200
years. It was destroyed by Assyria in 722 B.c, The
10 tribes were deported and disappeared from
history. The southern kingdom lasted a little over
300 years. It was destroyed by Babylon shortly
after about 586 b.c.
Solomon's Fortresses
■ V ■
The secession of the 10 tribes was of God
(11:11,31; 12:15), both as punishment for apostasy
of Solomon and as a lesson to Judah.
i l
1 Kings 13-14 JEROBOAM,
KING OF ISRAEL (931-910 b.c.)
Jeroboam, encouraged by the prophet Ahijah and
promised the throne of the Ten Tribes and a lasting
dynasty if only he would walk in God’s ways, led
a revolt against Solomon. Solomon tried to kill
him, so he fled to the court of Shishak, the king of
Egypt.
After Solomon’s death, Jeroboam returned and
established the Ten Tribes as an independent
kingdom. But he disregarded Ahijah’s warning and
instituted calf worship. God sent Ahijah to
Jeroboam again, this time to tell him that Israel
would be rooted up out of the land and scattered in
the country beyond the Euphrates (14:10, 15). This
amazing prophecy, which called Josiah by name
300 years before he was born (13:2), was fulfilled
(2 Kings 23:15-18).
0 10 20 30 40 >t»toe
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0 20 40 60
After the division of the kingdom, there was
long, continued war between Israel and Judah.
1 Kings 14:21-31 REHOBOAM,
KING OF JUDAH (931-913 b.c.)
on 2 Chronicles 10.)
1 Kings 15:1-8 ABIJAH, KING
OF JUDAH (931-911 bc) «. 2
Chronicles 13.)
I I
The Religion of the Northern
Kingdom
Jeroboam, the founder of the northern
kingdom, in order to keep the two kingdoms
separate, adopted calf worship as the state
religion of his newly formed kingdom. The
worship of God had become identified with
Judah, Jerusalem, and the family of David.
The calf came to stand as a symbol of
Israel’s independence of Judah. Jeroboam
established calf worship so firmly in the
northern kingdom that it was not swept away
until the fall of the kingdom. His two main
religious centers were Bethel in the south and
Dan in the northern part of the kingdom.
There was always a tendency for the
Israelites to join in the worship of the
Canaanite deity Baal. His worship was
actively promoted by Jezebel, but actively
opposed by the prophets Elijah and Elisha
and by King Jehu. Baal and other pagan
deities were also intermittently worshiped by
the Judeans.
Every one of the 19 kings of the northern
kingdom followed the worship of the golden
calf. Some of them also served Baal. But not
one ever attempted to bring the people back
to God.
The Religion of the Southern
Kingdom
Judah in principle worshiped God, although
most of the kings of Judah served idols and
walked in the evil ways of the kings of Israel.
Some of Judah’s kings served God, and at
times there were great reformations in Judah.
But on the whole, in spite of repeated
warnings, Judah sank lower and lower in the
horrible practices of Baal worship and other
Canaanite religions, until it was too late and
Judah was overrun by the Babylonians.
THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH— A CHRONOLOGY
Kings of Israel
Kings of Judah
Jeroboam
933-911
Rehoboam
933-916
Nadab
911-910
Abijah
915-913
Baasha
910-887
Asa
912-872
Elah
887-886
Zimri
886
Omri
886-875
Ahab
875-854
Jehoshaphat
874-850
Ahaziah
855-854
Jehoram
850-843
Joram
854-843
Ahaziah
843
Jehu
843-816
Athaliah
843-837
Jehoahaz
820-804
Joash
843-803
Joash
806-790
Amaziah
803-775
Jeroboam II
790-749
Uzziah
787-735
Zechariah
748
Jotham
749-734
Shallum
748
Menahem
748-738
Pekahiah
738-736
Ahaz
741-726
Pekah
748-730
Hoshea
730-721
Hezekiah
726-697
Manasseh
697-642
Amon
641-640
Josiah
639-608
Jehoahaz
608
Jehoiakim
608-S97
Jehoiachin
597
Zedekiah
597-586
— From E. R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings,
rev ed.
1 Kings 15:9-24 ASA, KING OF
JUDAH (911-870 B.C.) (See on 2 Chronicles
14.)
1 Kings 15:25-32 NADAB, KING
OF ISRAEL (910-909 b.c.)
Nadab was the son of Jeroboam He walked in the
sins of his father, and he reigned for only two years
before he was assassinated by Baasha, who killed
Jeroboam’s entire family.
THE TWO KINGDOMS— AN
OVERVIEW
The Northern Kingdom, Israel, 933-721
B.C.
First 50 years: Harassed by Judah and
Syria
Next 40 years: Quite prosperous under
Oinri’s dynasty
Next 40 years: Brought very low under
Jehu and Jehoahaz
Next 50 years: Reached its greatest extent
under Jeroboam II
Last 30 years: Anarchy, ruin, and captivity
The Southern Kingdom, Judah, 931-586
B.C.
First 80 years: Quite prosperous, growing
in power
Next 70 years: Considerable disaster;
introduction of Baalism
Next 50 years: Reached its greatest extent
under Uzziah
Next 15 years: Began to pay tribute to
Assyria under Ahaz
Next 30 years: Regained independence
under Hezekiah
Last 100 years: Mostly a vassal of Assyria
Relations Between the Northern and
Southern Kingdoms
First 80 years: Continuous war between
them
Second 80 years: Peace between them
Last 50 years: Intermittent war, to the end
1 Kings 15:33-16:7 BAASHA,
KING OF ISRAEL (909-886 b.c.)
After capturing the throne by violence, Baasha
reigned 24 years. He walked in the sins of
Jeroboam He warred with Judah, which made an
appeal to Assyria to attack him.
1 Kings 16:8-14 ELAH, KING OF
ISRAEL (886-885 b.c.)
Elah, the son of Baasha, reigned two years. Given
to debauchery, he was assassinated while he was
drunk, by Zirnri, who killed his entire family.
1 Kings 16:15-20 ZIMRI, KING
OF ISRAEL (885 b.c.)
Zimri reigned all of seven days. He was a military
officer whose only accomplishment was the
extermination of the short-lived Baasha dynasty.
He committed suicide by setting his palace on fire.
1 Kings 16:21-28 OMRI, KING
OF ISRAEL (885-874 b.c.)
Omri was chosen king by acclamation and reigned
12 years. He was more evil than all the kings of
Israel before him. Yet he gained such prominence
that for a long time after his death, Israel was still
known as the land of Omri. He made Samaria his
capital (Tirzah, some 10 miles east of Samaria,
had been the northern capital until then; 14:17;
15:33).
The destruction of Samaria by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. is still
visible in the remains of the palace of Omri and Ahab in
Samaria.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Omri.
• The Moabite Stone (850 B.c.) mentions Omri,
king of Israel.
• An inscription of Adad-nirari III (810-782
B.c.) mentions the land of Israel as “Omri.”
• The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (858—
824 B.c.) speaks of tribute from Jehu,
successor to Omri.
• In 16:24 it is said that Omri built Samaria. A
Harvard University expedition found in the
ruins of Samaria the foundations of Omri’s
palace, evidence that he established a new
capital there.
1 Kings 16:29-22:40 AHAB,
KING OF ISRAEL (874-853 b.c.)
Ahab reigned for 22 years. He was the most
wicked of all the kings of Israel. He married
Jezebel, a princess from Sidon, who was an
imperious, unscrupulous, vindictive, determined,
devilish woman — a demon incarnate. She built a
temple for Baal in Samaria, maintained 850
prophets of Baal and Ashtoreth, killed God’s
prophets, and abolished the worship of the Lord
(18:13, 19). Her name is later used for
prophetesses who sought to seduce the church to
commit spiritual adultery (Revelation 2:20).
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Ahab.
Although the biblical writers were not fond of the
wicked Ahab, archaeologists have found extensive
remains (palaces, storerooms, fortresses, etc.) at
sites such as Dan, Hazor, Megiddo, Jezreel,
Samaria, and elsewhere. Indeed, he was so
powerful that in a battle against the powerful
Assyrian monarch Shalmaneser III at Qarqar (853
B.c.), he supplied more chariots (2000) than any of
the other allied forces.
Elijah, 1 Kings 17 to 2 Kings 2
Six chapters are given to Ahab’s reign, while most
of the kings of Israel are covered in only part of
one chapter. The reason is that the story of Ahab is
largely the story of Elijah. Elijah was God’s
answer to Ahab and Jezebel. God sent Elijah to
eradicate Baalism, a cruel religion.
Elijah’s rare, sudden, and brief appearances,
his undaunted courage and fiery zeal, the brilliance
of his triumphs, the pathos of his despondency, the
glory of his departure, and the calm beauty of his
reappearance with Jesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration (Matthew 17: 3-4; Mark 9:4; Luke
9:30-33) make him one of the grandest characters
Israel ever produced.
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1 Kings 17-18 THE DROUGHT
God gave Elijah power to shut the heavens for 3
1/2 years so it did not rain. During this time Elijah
was fed by ravens in the Kerith Ravine and by the
widow of Sarepta, whose jar of flour and jug of oil
did not run out.
Elijah’s venture of faith on Mount Carmel was
magnificent. God must have revealed to Elijah,
some way or other, that he would send the fire and
rain. But it all made no impression on Jezebel.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Baal
Worship. The Canaanites, and eventually many
Israelites and Judeans, worshiped the storm god
Baal — the one who brought fertility to the land. In
addition, they worshiped the sex goddess Asherah.
Numerous fertility figurines have been found in
archaeological excavations in Israel. From some of
the texts found at Ugarit (a city in Syria) we know
that Canaanite worship could include ritual
dancing and the cutting and slashing of one’s body
— which is exactly what the 450 prophets of Baal
and the 400 prophets of Asherah did on Mount
Carmel (1 Kings 18:25-29).
1 Kings 19 THE STILL SMALL
VOICE
Utterly discouraged, Elijah fled to Mount Horeb,
where he asked God to let him die (19:4). Elijah’s
ministry had been a ministry of miracles, fire, and
the sword. He had caused a severe drought, had
been sustained by ravens and by a jar of flour and
jug of oil that never ran out, had raised the dead,
had called down fire from heaven, had slain the
prophets of Baal with the sword, and had brought
rain to the land.
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the
mountain in the presence of the Lord, for
the Lord is about to pass by. ” Then a
great and powerful wind tore the
mountains apart and shattered the rocks
before the Lord, but the Lord was not in
the wind. After the wind there was an
earthquake, but the Lord was not in the
earthquake.
After the earthquake came a fire, but the
Lord was not in the fire. And after the
fire came a gentle whisper.
— 1 Kings 19:11-12
And God taught him a wonderful lesson: God
was not in the wind, or in the earthquake, or in the
fire, but in “a still small voice” (vv. 11-12 KJV;
Niy “a gentle whisper”). It seems as if God was
telling Elijah that while force and spectacular
demonstrations of power are sometimes necessary,
yet God’s real work in the world is not
accomplished by such methods.
Many centuries later, Elijah appeared again, on
the Mount of Transfiguration, talking with Christ
and Moses about the work that now at last was
being introduced into the world, namely, the
transforming of human lives into the image of God
by the gentle whisper of Christ speaking in the
hearts of men.
1 Kings 20-22 AHAB’S DEATH
Ahab closed his reign with a brutal crime against
Naboth. He was slain in war with Syria — the end
of a contemptible character.
3 t ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE:
Shalmaneser and Ahab. An inscription of
Shalmaneser III (858-824 B.c.) mentions Ahab: “I
destroyed . . . 2000 chariots and 10,000 men of
Ahab king of Israel.”
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Ahab’s
“Ivory House.” “The palace he built and inlaid
with ivory” (22:39). The Harvard University
Expedition to Samaria found remains of Ahab’s
palace. Scattered about on the floors and in the
courtyards were hundreds of exquisitely carved
ivory fragments. Many contained Phoenician
and/or Egyptian motifs. They probably had been
used as inlays in the palace furniture of the
Israelite kings — compare the “beds inlaid with
ivory” in Amos 6:4.
1 Kings 22:41-50
JEHOSHAPHAT, KING OF
JUDAH (872-848 B.C.) (See on 2 Chronicles
17 .)
1 Kings 22:51-53 AHAZIAH,
KING OF ISRAEL (853-852 b.c.)
(See on 2 Kings 1.)
2 Kings
The Divided Kingdom
Elisha
The End of Both Kingdoms
“This is what the Lord, the God of your
father David, says: I have heard your prayer
and seen your tears; I will heal you. ”
— 2 Kings 20:5
Parallel stories should be read in both 2 Kings and
in 2 Chronicles, since they often include different
details and even events.
The books 1 and 2 Kings were originally one
book. First Kings tells the story of the kingdom,
beginning with Solomon, through the division of
the kingdom after Solomon’s death, and the first 80
years after the division of the kingdom. Second
Kings continues the parallel accounts of the two
kingdoms, Judah and Israel.
The story of the northern kingdom, Israel,
continues for another 130 years or so, until the
Assyrians come, destroy the kingdom, and deport
the people of Israel, who, as an identifiable group,
disappear forever into the mists of history.
Samuel, Kings, and
Chronicles
The entire history of the kingdom of Israel is
told in the two books of Samuel and the two
books of Kings. The books of Chronicles tell
the same story.
In broad outline,
• 1-2 Samuel = 1 Chronicles
• 1-2 Kings = 2 Chronicles (both 1
Kings and 2 Chronicles begin with
Solomon)
The main differences are that
• 1 Chronicles begins with a lengthy
genealogy — beginning with Adam — but it
omits the stories of Samuel and Saul
(except for Saul’s suicide);
• 2 Chronicles omits entirely the history of
the northern kingdom.
The story of the southern kingdom, Judah,
continues for another 130 years after the fall of
Israel, until the kingdom of Judah is overrun by the
Babylonians, Jerusalem is destroyed, and the
people of Judah are taken to Babylonia in what is
known as the Babylonian captivity, from which
some would return about 50 years later to rebuild
Jerusalem (Ezra, Nehemiah).
The second book of Kings covers the last 12
kings of the northern kingdom and the last 16 kings
of the southern kingdom (see under 1 Kings 12) — a
period of about 250 years, approximately 850-586
B.C.
Elijah and Elisha were prophets sent by God in
an effort to save the northern kingdom Their
combined ministry lasted about 75 years in the
middle period of the northern kingdom, about 875-
800 B.c,, through the reigns of six kings: Ahab,
Ahaziah, Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Joash.
2 Kings 1 AHAZIAH, KING OF
ISRAEL (853-852 b.c .)
The account of his reign starts back in 1 Kings
22:51. He was coregent with his father, Ahab, and
wicked like him. He reigned for two years. We
have here another of Elijah’s fire miracles (vv. 9-
14).
2 Kings 2 ELIJAH TAKEN UP IN
A CHARIOT OF FIRE
Elijah was a native of Gilead, in the land of
Jephthah. A child of the wild loneliness of
mountain ravines, he wore a mantel of sheep skin
or coarse camel hair, with his own thick, long hair
hanging down his back. His mission was to drive
Baalism out of Israel. His ministry may have lasted
about 25 years, through the reigns of the wicked
Ahab and Ahaziah. He had some hard and rough
and very disagreeable work to do.
He thought he had failed. And though intimate
with God in a measure that has been given to few
people, he was utterly human, like us: he asked
God to take his life. But God did not think he had
failed. When his work was done, God sent a
deputation of angelic chariots to take Elijah away
in triumph to heaven.
Elijah had recently been on Mount Horeb,
where Moses had given the Law. Now, conscious
that the time of his departure had come, he headed
straight for the land of Moses’ burial, Mount Nebo
(Deuteronomy 34:1), as if he wanted to be with
Moses in death.
Elijah had been a prophet of fire. He had
called down fire from heaven on Mount Carmel,
and he had called down fire to destroy the officers
of Ahaziah. Now he is borne away to heaven in a
chariot of fire. Only one other, Enoch, was taken to
God without having to pass through the experience
of death (Genesis 5:24). Possibly the experience of
these two men may have been intended by God to
be a sort of dim foreshadowing of the Rapture of
the church, in that glad day when angel chariots
shall sweep in and swing low to gather us up to
welcome the returning Savior.
Elisha, 2 Kings 2 to 13
Elijah, instructed by God, had anointed Elisha to
be his successor (1 Kings 19: 16-21) and had taken
him on as his apprentice. As Elijah went away to
heaven, his mantle fell on Elisha, and Elisha began
immediately to work miracles, as Elijah had done.
“Don’t be afraid, ” the prophet answered.
“Those who are with us are more than
those who are with them. ”
And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his
eyes so he may see. ” Then the Lord
opened the servant’s eyes, and he
looked and saw the hills full of horses
and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
—2 Kings 6:16-17
The waters of the Jordan were divided for
Elisha, as just before they had divided for Elijah
(2:8, 14). The spring at Jericho was healed (2:21).
Forty-two boys at Bethel were torn by bears
(2:24). God, not Elisha, sent the bears. Bethel was
a seat of Baal worship. The boys apparently were
taunting Elisha’s God.
God had hinted to Elijah that fire and sword
were not the methods by which God’s real work
would be accomplished (1 Kings 19:12).
Nevertheless, fire and sword continued to be used
— Baalism could understand no other language.
Elisha anointed Jehu to exterminate official
Baalism (1 Kings 19:16-17; 2 Kings 9:1-10). And
Jehu did so, with a vengeance (chaps. 9-10).
2 Kings 3-9 JEHORAM
(JORAM), KING OF ISRAEL
(852-841 b.c.)
Jehoram reigned 12 years and was killed by Jehu
(9:24). During his reign, the king of Moab, who
had paid tribute to Ahab, rebelled (3:4-6).
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The
Moabite Stone. Chapter 3 is an account of
Jehoram’s effort to subdue Moab again. Mesha,
king of Moab (2 Kings 3:4), made his own record
of this rebellion. It was found in 1868 at Dibon, in
Moab, 20 miles east of the Dead Sea, by F. A.
Klein, a German missionary. It is a black basalt
stone, 3 feet high, 2 feet wide, 14 inches thick,
with an inscription of Mesha. It is known as the
Moabite Stone. While the Berlin Museum was
negotiating for it, the Clermont-Ganneau of
Jerusalem tried to make a paper squeeze (a papier-
mache impression) of it — and was partially
successful.
The next year Arabs, by lighting a fire around it
and pouring cold water over it, broke it in pieces
to spite the Ottoman governor. Later the French
secured the pieces, and by putting them together —
along with pieces of the paper squeeze — saved the
inscription. It is now in the Louvre Museum
This is part of the text written on the Moabite
Stone (Chemosh is the god of Moab):
I [am] Mesha, son of Chemosh, king of
Moab . . . my father had reigned over Moab
thirty years and I reigned after my father. . . .
As for Omri, king of Israel, he humbled
Moab many years, for Chemosh was angry at
his land [Moab]. And his [Omri’s] son
followed him and he also said, “I will humble
Moab.” In my time he spoke [thus], but I have
triumphed over him and over his house, while
Israel has perished forever.
He then describes the capture of the cities of
Medeba, Ataroth, Nebo, and Jahaz. This is what he
says about the fall of Nebo:
And Chemosh said to me, “Go, take Nebo
from Israel!” So I went by night and fought
against it from the break of dawn until noon,
taking it and slaying all, seven thousand men,
boys, women, girls, and maid-servants, for I
had devoted them to destruction for [the god]
Ashtar- Chemo sh.
2 Kings 4-7 ELISHA’S
MIRACLES
Elisha had begun his ministry with miracles, as
told in chapter 2. Miracle upon miracle follows. A
widow’s oil supply is increased. The
Shunammite’s son is raised from the dead. A
poisonous stew is made edible. Loaves of bread
are multiplied. Naaman’s leprosy is healed. An ax
head is made to float. Samaria is delivered by
Elisha’s invisible chariots. The Syrians are routed
by horses and chariots of God (7:6). Nearly all that
is recorded of Elisha is about his miracles. Most
of Elisha’s miracles were acts of kindness and
mercy.
Jesus understood Elisha’s healing of Naaman
as prefiguring that He Himself would also be sent
to other nations (Luke 4:25-27).
2 Kings 8:1-15 ELISHA
ANOINTS HAZAEL
Elisha anointed Hazael to succeed Ben-Hadad as
king of Syria — a prophet of Israel anointed a
foreign king to punish the prophet’s own nation.
God had instructed that this be done (1 Kings
19:15) as punishment on Israel for their frightful
sins (10:32-33).
) t ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Ben-Hadad
and Hazael. How Hazael became king of Syria is
told in 2 Kings 8:7-15. An account is also found in
an inscription of Shalmaneser III, king of Assyria,
who says: “I defeated Hadadezer [i.e., Ben-
Hadad] of Damascus. I stretched upon the ground
20,000 of his strong warriors ... the remnants of
his troops I pushed into the Orontes river;
Hadadezer (himself) perished. Hazael, a
commoner [lit., son of nobody] seized the throne.”
Elisha’s Ministry
Elisha began his ministry in the reign of Jehoram
(3:1, 11), probably about 850 B.c., and continued
through the reigns of Jehu and Jehoahaz. He died in
the reign of Joash (13:14-20), about 800 b.c.
He was a farm boy, of Abel Meholah in the
upper Jordan valley (1 Kings 9:16, 19). He
received his prophetic training from Elijah (1
Kings 19:21; 2 Kings 3:11). He and Elijah were
very different. Elijah was like the tempest and
earthquake; Elisha, like the “still small voice,” the
“gentle whisper.” Elijah was flint-like; Elisha,
gentle, gracious, diplomatic. Elijah was a man of
the wilderness, with a cloak of camel’s hair;
Elisha lived in cities and dressed like other
people. Yet Elijah’s mantle fell on Elisha (1 Kings
19: 19; 2 Kings 2: 13).
Resurrections in the Bible
There are seven resurrections in the Bible.
These seven do not include the resurrection of
Jesus, the capstone of them all, accomplished
without human instrumentality, nor the strange
incident of Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:21).
• Elijah: the widow’s son (1 Kings 17)
• Elisha: the Shunammite’s son (2 Kings 4)
• Jesus: Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5)
• Jesus: the son of the widow from Nain
(Luke 7)
• Jesus: Lazarus (John 11)
• Peter: Dorcas (Acts 9)
• Paul: Eutychus (Acts 20)
Elisha’s Miracles
Elisha’s miracles are recorded in chapters 2 and
4-7. Among them was one of the Bible’s seven
recorded resurrections.
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Elisha’s Seminary Work
Samuel, it seems from 1 Samuel 19:20, had started
a school of prophets at Ramah. Elisha had such
schools at Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal, and other places
(2 Kings 2:3, 5; 4:38; 6:1). Beside these, he
appears to have resided at Carmel, Shunem,
Dothan, and Samaria (2 Kings 2:25; 4:10, 25;
6:13, 32). He must have been a sort of pastor-
prophet-teacher, as well as an adviser to the king.
His advice was always acted on. He did not
approve of all that the kings did, but in times of
crisis he came to their rescue.
Elisha, in the northern kingdom, may have been
contemporary with the prophet Joel in the southern
kingdom. He may have been a teacher of Jonah and
Amos, who were boys at the time.
Elijah and Elisha, in their personal lives and
public work, seem to have been a prototype-in-
action of John the Baptist and Jesus. John is called
Elijah (Matthew 11:14), and Jesus’ ministry of
kindness was an extensive expansion of Elisha’s
ministry of the same nature. They illustrate the fact
that men of utterly different personality may work
together for the same ends.
2 Kings 8:16-24 JORAM, KING
OF JUDAH
(See on 2 Chronicles 21.)
2 Kings 8:25-29 AHAZIAH, KING
OF JUDAH
(See on 2 Chronicles 22.)
2 Kings 9-10 JEHU, KING OF
ISRAEL (841-814 b.c.)
Jehu reigned for 28 years. He was an officer of
Ahab’s bodyguard and was anointed by a prophet
to be king, to eliminate the house of Ahab, and to
eradicate Baalism. He proceeded immediately and
furiously to do the bloody work for which Jehu
was well fitted. He was intrepid, relentless,
pitiless. Perhaps no one else could have done it.
He killed Joram, the king of Israel; Jezebel;
Ahaziah, the king of Judah (who was Ahab’s son-
in-law); Ahab’s 70 sons; the brothers of Ahaziah;
all the friends and partisans of Ahab’s house; all
the priests of Baal, and all the worshipers of Baal;
and he destroyed the temple and pillars of Baal.
Sadly, even though Jehu eradicated Baal worship,
he made no effort to keep the Law of God but did
what King Jeroboam had done — practiced calf
worship (see sidebar The Religion of the Northern
Kingdom in 1 Kings).
If we wonder at God’s use of an agent like
Jehu, we must remember that Baalism was
unspeakably vile. God sometimes uses people and
nations who are far from what they ought to be to
execute His judgments on the wicked.
This relief from the stele of Shalmaneser III (also known as the
Black Obelisk) shows Jehu bowing down. The winged disk
above Jehu represents the god Assur; the star represents the
goddess Ishtar.
While Jehu was occupied with his bloody
revolution in Israel, Hazael, the king of Syria (who
had been anointed by Elisha; 8:1-15) took away
Gilead and Bashan, Israel’s territory east of the
Jordan (10:32-33). Jehu also had his troubles with
Assyria, whose power was rising with ominous
rapidity.
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Jehu and
Shalmaneser’s Black Obelisk. At Calah, near
Nineveh, Sir Austen Henry Layard found in 1846 a
block of black stone in the ruins of the palace of
Shalmaneser, seven feet high, covered with reliefs
and inscriptions that depicted his exploits. It is
called the Black Obelisk and is now in the British
Museum (see photo).
In the second line from the top is a figure
kneeling at the feet of the king, and above it this
inscription: “The tribute of Jehu, son [successor]
of Omri. I received from him silver, gold, a golden
saplu- bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom,
golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a
king. . . .”
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Jezebel.
Jezebel “painted her eyes, arranged her hair and
looked out of a window” (9:30). At archaeological
excavations throughout Israel, small boxes, vials,
and containers — made of ivory, stone, pottery, and
glass — have been found. Some of these were used
for the preparation of cosmetics. Substances such
as kohl were used for black; turquoise for green;
and ochre for red.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Megiddo. In
the extensive excavations at Megiddo, several
palaces, storerooms (or stables), a city gate, city
wall, and a large underground water system from
the days of Ahab have been found.
Megiddo gave its name to the area where the
armies opposing God’s people will assemble and
the great and final battle of the ages will be waged:
Armageddon (liar Megiddo , Mountain of
Megiddo; Revelation 16:16). Megiddo was
situated on the south side of the Jezreel Valley, 10
miles southwest of Nazareth, at the entrance to a
pass across the Carmel mountain range, on the
main highway between Asia and Africa. It thus
held a key position between the Euphrates and the
Nile and was the meeting place of armies from the
East and from the West. Thutmose III, who made
Egypt a world empire, said, “Megiddo is worth a
thousand cities.”
It was at Megiddo in World War I that General
Edmund Henry Allenby (1918) broke the power of
the Turkish army. It is said that more blood has
been shed around this hill than any other spot on
earth.
2 Kings 11 ATHALIAH, QUEEN
OF JUDAH
(See on 2 Chronicles 22.)
2 Kings 12 JEHOASH, KING OF
JUDAH (See on 2 Chronicles 24.)
2 Kings 13:1-9 JEHOAHAZ,
KING OF ISRAEL (814-798 b.c.)
Jehoahaz reigned for 17 years. Under him Israel
was brought very low by the Syrians.
2 Kings 13:10-25 JEHOASH
(JOASH), KING OF ISRAEL (798-
782 b.c.)
Jehoash reigned for 16 years. He warred with
Syria and retook the cities his father had lost. He
also warred with Judah and plundered Jerusalem.
The water tunnel at Megiddo, which dates probably from the
time of King Ahab (9th century B.C.). The shaft is located
inside the city walls, ensuring access in case of a siege; it
goes down some 115 feet and then extends for another 175
feet.
2 Kings 14:1-22 AMAZIAH,
KING OF JUDAH
(See on 2 Chronicles 25.)
2 Kings 14:23-29 JEROBOAM II,
KING OF ISRAEL (793-753 b.c.)
Jeroboam II, who reigned for 41 years, continued
the wars of his father Joash against Syria and, with
the help of the prophet Jonah (v. 25), brought the
northern kingdom to its greatest extent. The
idolatry and abominable social conditions of
Jeroboam’s reign were challenged by the ministry
of the prophets Amos and Hosea.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: A Seal of
Jeroboam’s Servant. In 1904, in the layer of
ruins belonging to Jeroboam’s time, a beautiful
jasper seal was found at Megiddo, bearing the
inscription “Belonging to Shema, Servant [i.e.,
official] of Jeroboam” It was later lost in Istanbul.
2 Kings 15:1-7 AZARIAH, KING
OF JUDAH
(See on 2 Chronicles 26.)
2 Kings 15:8-12 ZECHARIAH,
KING OF ISRAEL (753-752 b.c.)
Zechariah reigned for only six months before he
was assassinated.
This piece of pottery (called an ostracon) is probably a receipt
from the days of Jeroboam II. It reads, “In the 10th year, from
Azzah [a town] to Gaddiyau [a person], a jar of fine oil.” Pottery
shards were used to record transactions and as “note paper.”
In Greece, ostraca were used in voting. If a person was voted
out of the community, he was “ostracized.”
2 Kings 15:13-15 SHALLUM,
KING OF ISRAEL (752 b.c.)
Shallum, who had assassinated Zechariah, was
himself assassinated by Menahem after a reign of
one month.
2 Kings 15:16-22 MENAHEM,
KING OF ISRAEL (752-742 b.c.)
Menahem reigned for 10 years, a cold-blooded and
brutal king.
3 : ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Menahem.
Menahem paid tribute to Pul (= Tiglath-pileser III),
king of Assyria (w. 19-20). One of Pul’s
inscriptions says, “I received tribute from ... of
Menahem of Samaria.” Pul’s inscriptions also
mention Pekah and Hoshea of Israel (see below).
2 Kings 15:23-26 PEKAHIAH,
KING OF ISRAEL (742-740 b.c.)
Pekiah reigned for two years before he, like
Zechariah and Shallum, was assassinated.
2 Kings 15:27-31 PEKAH, KING
OF ISRAEL (752-732 b.c.)
Pekah reigned for 20 years. A powerful military
officer, who may have been coregent with
Menahem and Pekahiah, Pekah attacked Judah in
alliance with Syria. Judah appealed to Assyria for
help. The king of Assyria came and conquered both
Israel and Syria, taking away the inhabitants of
north and east Israel. This was the so-called
Galilee captivity (734 B.c.). Of the northern
kingdom, only Samaria was left. This story is told
in more detail in 2 Chronicles and Isaiah 7.
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The
Deportation. The beginning of the deportation of
the northern kingdom by Tiglath-pileser III (v. 29)
is recorded in Tiglath-pileser ’s inscription: “The
people of the land of Omri [i.e., Israel] I deported
to Assyria, with their property.”
2 Kings 15:32-38 JOTHAM,
KING OF JUDAH (750-732 b.c.)
(See on 2 Chronicles 27.)
2 Kings 16 AHAZ, KING OF
JUDAH (735-716 bc)
( See on 2 Chronicles 28.)
2 Kings 17 HOSHEA, THE LAST
KING OF ISRAEL (730-722 b.c.)
Hoshea reigned for nine years. He paid tribute to
the king of Assyria, but made a secret alliance with
the king of Egypt. Then came the Assyrians and
administered the final death-blow to the northern
kingdom. Samaria fell, and its people followed the
rest of Israel into captivity. The prophets at that
time were Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah. The northern
kingdom had lasted about 200 years. Every one of
its 19 kings had walked in the sins of Jeroboam, its
founder. God had sent prophet after prophet and
judgment after judgment in an effort to turn the
nation back from its sins. But in vain. Israel
insisted on worshiping its idols. There was no
remedy, and God removed Israel from the land.
Deportation of Israel by Assyria,
722 b.c.
3 P ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Hoshea.
Hoshea killed Pekah and reigned in his stead
(15:30). Hoshea brought tribute to the king of
Assyria (17:3).
An inscription of Tiglath-pileser III says,
“Israel [lit., Omri-land] ... all its inhabitants [and]
their possessions I led to Assyria. They overthrew
their king Pekah and I placed Hoshea as king over
them. I received from them 10 talents of gold and
1000 talents of silver as their tribute and brought
them to Assyria.”
3 P ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The
Captivity of Israel. Second Kings says, “The
king of Assyria . . . marched against Samaria and
laid siege to it for three years. . . . [He] captured
Samaria and deported the Israelites. . . . The king
of Assyria brought people from Babylon . . . and
settled them in the towns of Samaria” (17:5-6, 24).
An inscription of Sargon (see map: Assyrian
Deportation , and the article The Advancing
Assyrians in Isaiah) says, “In my first year I
captured Samaria. I took captive 27,290 people.
People of other lands, who never paid tribute, I
settled in Samaria.”
Assyria
The Assyrian Empire destroyed the kingdom of
Israel. In recent years, annals of Assyrian kings
have been found in which they recorded their
exploits. In these annals, the names of 10 Hebrew
kings occur: Omri, Ahab, Jehu, Menahem, Pekah,
Hoshea, Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh.
Many statements are found in these records that
illuminate biblical statements.
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The capital of Assyria was the great city of
Nineveh (see the article on Nineveh’s Utter Ruin in
Nahum).
It was Assyria’s policy to deport conquered
peoples to other lands, which would destroy their
sense of nationalism and make them easier to
control.
The Assyrians were great warriors. Most
nations then were robber nations, and the
Assyrians seem to have been about the worst of
them all. They built their empire on the loot of
other peoples. They practiced incredible cruelty.
Assyria was founded before 2000 B.c, by
colonists from Babylon, and for many centuries
was subject to, or in conflict with, Babylon.
Around 1300 B.c. Shalmaneser 1 threw off the yoke
of Babylon and ruled the whole Euphrates valley.
Then Assyria declined. Tiglath-pileser 1 (111 5—
1076) made Assyria again a great kingdom, but
another period of decline followed — until the
brilliant epoch of 300 years in which Assyria was
a world empire, under the following kings, many of
whom play a role in the Bible (names in bold):
• Assur-nasir-pal II (884-858 B.c.). He was
warlike and cruel. Welded Assyria into the
best fighting machine of the ancient world.
• Shalmaneser III (858-824). First Assyrian
king to come in conflict with Israel. Ahab
fought him. Jehu paid him tribute.
Period of decline under Shamsi-adad V (824-
810), Adad-nirari III (810-782), Shalmaneser
IV (782-773), Assur-dan III (773-754),
Assur-nirari V (754-745).
Tiglath-pileser in (745-727). Pul was his
personal name. He carried northern Israel into
captivity (734 B.c.) (See under Isaiah 7.)
Shalmaneser V (727-722). He besieged
Samaria and died in the siege.
Sargon H (721-705). He completed the
destruction of Samaria and the deportation of
Israel. (Sargon I was a Babylonian king who
lived 2000 years earlier.)
Sennacherib (704-681). Most famous of the
Assyrian kings. He was defeated by an angel
of the Lord. He burned Babylon. (See under 2
Chronicles 32.)
Esarhaddon (681-669). He rebuilt Babylon
and conquered Egypt. One of the greatest of
the Assyrian kings.
Assur-banipal (669-633), (or Osnapper, Ezra
4:10 KJV). Destroyed Thebes (in Egypt).
Collected a great library. Powerful, cruel,
literary.
• The end of the Assyrian Empire under Assur-
etil-ilani, Sin-sar-iskun, and Ashur-uballit
(633-608). Beset by Scythians, Medes, and
Babylonians, the brutal empire fell.
2 Kings 18-25 THE LAST EIGHT
KINGS OF JUDAH, HEZEKIAH
TO ZEDEKIAH (716-586 b.c.)
For notes on these kings, see on 2 Chronicles 29-
36.
These four reliefs show the pride and cruelty of the Assyrians
as well as their considerable artistic talents.
Ashurbanipal calmly confronting a wounded lion, emphasizing
his power and courage (top).
Assyrian archers carrying the heads of their enemies in
triumph (bottom).
Assyrian archers presenting the heads of their enemies
(perhaps along with other gifts). They took “head count” very
literally (top).
A magnificent image of a mortally wounded lion (bottom).
Deportation of Judah by
Babylon, 605 b.c.
1 i
2 Kings 25 ZEDEKIAH (597-586
b.c.), Last King of Judah
The captivity of Judah was accomplished in four
phases.
• In 605 B.c. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
defeated Jehoiakim and took temple treasures
as well as the sons of prominent families,
including Daniel, to Babylon (2 Chronicles
36:6-7; Daniel 1:1-3).
• In 597 B.c. Nebuchadnezzar came again and
took the rest of the treasures, as well as King
Jehoiachin and 10,000 of the princes,
officers, and prominent citizens, to Babylon
(2 Kings 24:14-16). Among those taken
captive was the prophet Ezekiel.
• In 586 B.c. the Babylonians came again. They
burned Jerusalem, tore down its walls, put out
the eyes of King Zedekiah, and carried him in
chains to Babylon, with 832 captives. All that
was left in the land was a remnant of the
poorest class of people (2 Kings 25:8-12;
Jeremiah 52:28-30).
It took the Babylonians a year and a half
to subdue Jerusalem They besieged it in the
tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah, and
the city fell in the fourth month of the eleventh
year of his reign. A month later the city was
burned.
Thus Nebuchadnezzar was 20 years in the
process of destroying Jerusalem. He could
have done it at first, had he wanted to. But he
only wanted tribute. Daniel, whom he took to
Babylon at the beginning of the 20 years, soon
became Nebuchadnezzar’s friend and adviser
and may have had a restraining influence on
him In the end, it was Judah’s persistence in
making an alliance with Egypt that forced
Nebuchadnezzar to wipe Jerusalem off the
map.
• In 581 B.c. , five years after the burning of
Jerusalem, the Babylonians came again and
took 745 more captives (Jeremiah 52:30),
even after a considerable group, including
Jeremiah, had fled to Egypt (Jeremiah 43).
The fall of Jerusalem was accompanied by
the ministry of three great prophets, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, and Daniel.
The captivity of Judah by Babylon had been
predicted 100 years before by Isaiah and Micah
(Isaiah 39:6; Micah 4:10). Now that it was
accomplished, Jeremiah predicted that it would
last 70 years (Jeremiah 25: 11-12).
This was the end of David’s earthly kingdom. It
had lasted 400 years. It revived, in a spiritual
sense, with the arrival of Christ, and will be
consummated in glory at His return.
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE:
Nebuchadne zz ar. Nebuchadnezzar burned the
cities of Lachish and Jerusalem (25:9; Jeremiah
34:7); massive destruction levels have been found
at both cities. At Lachish a broken piece of pottery
with writing on it speaks of the cities of Lachish
and Azekah — just as Jeremiah 34:7 does. In
Jerusalem, massive destruction by the Babylonians
has been found by Shiloh’s excavations in the old
City of David and by Nahum Avigad (a defensive
tower, ash, and arrowheads) in the Jewish Quarter
of the Old City.
Babylon
• Assyria took Israel away in captivity (734-
722 B.c.).
• Babylon took Judah away in captivity (605-
586 B.c,).
• Assyria occupied the northern part of the
Euphrates-Tigris valley.
• Babylon occupied the southern part of the
Euphrates-Tigris valley.
• Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian
Empire.
• Babylon was the capital of the Babylonian
Empire.
• Nineveh and Babylon were 300 miles apart
(see map: Babylonian Deportation ).
The Old Babylonian Empire (2000-1600 B.c.)
• Around 2000 b.c. Babylon became the
dominating power of the world.
• This was the era of the great lawgiver
Hammurabi (ca. 1800 B.c.; see The Time of
the Patriarchs: Genesis 12-50 T
• Then followed 1000 years of intermittent
struggle, followed by 250 years of Assyrian
supremacy (884-605 B.c.; see Assyria in the
chapter on 2 Kings).
The New Babylonian Empire (625-539 B.c.)
The New Babylonian, or Neo-Babylonian Empire,
broke the power of Assyria and, in its westward
sweep, destroyed Judah and conquered Egypt. Its
kings were as follows:
• Nabopolassar (625-605 b.c.) threw off the
yoke of Assyria in 625 b.c. and established
the independence of Babylon. With the aid of
Cyaxares the Mede, he conquered and
destroyed Nineveh (612 b.c.).
Nabopolassar’s son Nebuchadnezzar became
commander of his father’s armies, and in 605
B.c. became coregent with his father.
• Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 b.c.), the greatest
of all Babylonian kings, was one of the
mightiest monarchs of all time. He reigned for
45 years. The Babylonian Empire was largely
his achievement. He extended the power of
Babylon over most of the then-known world
and beautified the city of Babylon almost
beyond imagination (see sidebar The City of
Babylon in the chapter on Daniel).
He was the one who carried the Jews into
captivity, including Daniel and Ezekiel. He
took a great liking to Daniel and made him
one of his chief advisers. And Daniel’s
influence, no doubt, must have eased the lot of
Jewish captives. (See further about
Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, in the sidebars
The Babylonian Empire and Nebuchadnezzar
in the chapter on Daniel.)
Under Nebuchadnezzar’s successors the
Babylonian Empire began to decline: Evil-
Merodach (562-560 B.c.), Neriglissar (559-
556 B.c.), Labashi-Marduk (556 B.c.), and
Nabonidus (556-539 b.c.).
Nabonidus’s son, Belshazzar, was coregent
with him during the last few years of his reign
and thus the second-most powerful person in
Babylon. This is why he could only offer
Daniel the third-highest position as a reward
for interpreting the handwriting on the wall
(Daniel 5:7; for the story of the handwriting
on the wall and the fall of Babylon, see
sidebar Belshazzar in the chapter on Daniel).
• The city of Babylon, and with it the
Babylonian Empire, fell to the Medes and
Persians. Supremacy passed to Persia in 539
B.c. and would last until Persia was in turn
conquered by Alexander the Great in 33 1 B.c,
The Babylonian Empire lasted 70 years. The
70 years of Judah’s exile coincided exactly with
the 70 years during which Babylon ruled the
world. The year in which Cyrus, king of Persia,
conquered Babylon (539 B.c.) was the same year in
which he authorized the return of the Jews to their
own land.
Babylon, oppressor of God’s Old Testament
people, appears again in the book of Revelation as
the embodiment of the forces of evil that oppose
God (Revelation 17).
1 Chronicles
Genealogies
The Reign of David
“Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has
done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell oj
all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy
name; let the hearts of those who seek the
Lord rejoice. ”
— 1 Chronicles 16:8-10
Parallel stories should be read in both 1
Chronicles and in 1-2 Samuel, since they often
include different details and even events.
Author
The four books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and
Nehemiah were originally one book or series of
books. According to Jewish tradition, Ezra was the
author.
The author thus had access to journals, diaries,
and public records that have been lost. He also had
access to previous Old Testament books. Guided
by God, he transcribed that which suited the
purpose of his own writing. So, in this part of the
Old Testament, 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, we
have a double narrative.
Samuel, Kings, and
Chronicles
The entire history of the kingdom of Israel is
told in the two books of Samuel and the two
books of Kings. The books of Chronicles tell
the same story.
In broad outline,
• 1-2 Samuel = 1 Chronicles
• 1-2 Kings = 2 Chronicles (both 1
Kings and 2 Chronicles begin with
Solomon)
The main differences are that
• 1 Chronicles begins with a lengthy
genealogy — beginning with Adam — but it
omits the stories of Samuel and Saul
(except for Saul’s suicide);
• 2 Chronicles omits entirely the history of
the northern kingdom.
Significance of the Double Narrative
Believing, as we do, that the whole Bible is the
Word of God, designed for universal use, we
wonder if God had some purpose other than Ezra’s
immediate need in resettling the land in going over
this part of the sacred story twice.
Repetition means importance. At least, it is a
caution not to neglect this part of the Bible. Even
though we think of the books of Kings and
Chronicles as rather dry reading, they contain the
story of God’s dealings with His people. And in
reading them we may find some of the finest jewels
of Scripture.
1 Chron. 1-9 THE
GENEALOGIES
The immediate purpose of these genealogies seems
to be the resettling of the land in accordance with
the public records. Those who had returned from
the Babylonian captivity were entitled to the lands
formerly held by their own families. In the Old
Testament land had been apportioned to families
and could not be sold in perpetuity out of the
family (see on Leviticus 25).
Sources for the Books of
Chronicles
Frequent reference is made to other histories,
annals, and official archives:
• The annals of King David (1 Chronicles
27:24)
• The records of Samuel the seer, the
records of Nathan the prophet, and the
records of Gad the seer (1 Chronicles
29:29)
• The records of Nathan the prophet, the
prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and the
visions of Iddo the seer (2 Chronicles
9:29)
• The records of Shemaiah the prophet
and of Iddo the seer (2 Chronicles 12:15)
• The annotations of the prophet Iddo (2
Chronicles 13:22)
• The annals of Jehu the son of Hanani,
which are recorded in the book of the
kings of Israel (2 Chronicles 20:34)
• The annotations on the book of the kings
(2 Chronicles 24:27)
• The other events of Uzziah’s reign are
recorded by Isaiah (2 Chronicles 26:22)
• The vision of the prophet Isaiah (2
Chronicles 32:32)
• The book of the kings of Judah and Israel
(2 Chronicles 32:32)
• The records of the seers (2 Chronicles
33:19)
In the same way, the priesthood was hereditary.
A priest was to be succeeded by his son. This was
the law of the land.
This is also true of the royal line of David. The
most important and precious of all promises was
that the world’s Savior would come from David’s
family. The central interest of these genealogies is
their tracing of David’s family line. (See The
Monarchy: David. Solomon, and the Divided
Kingdom: 1 Samuel-2 Chronicles .')
“Then you will have success if you are
careful to observe the decrees and laws
that the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Be
strong and courageous. Do not be afraid
or discouraged. ”
— 1 Chronicles 22:13
Most of the genealogies are incomplete, with
many breaks in the lists. But the main line is there.
They were probably compiled from many records
that had been written on tablets, papyrus, or vellum
and partly copied from preceding Old Testament
books.
These nine chapters of genealogies represent
the generation-to-generation flow of all preceding
biblical history. They need not be read for
devotional purposes as often as some other parts of
Scripture. But these and similar genealogies are
the skeleton framework of the Old Testament, the
thing that binds the whole Bible together and gives
it unity, and that takes it out of the realm of legend
and into the pages of real history.
1 Chron. 10-12 DAVID MADE
KING (1010-970 bc)
The book of 2 Samuel and the book of 1
Chronicles, except for the genealogies, are both
devoted entirely to the reign of David. But 1
Chronicles pays special attention to the
organization of the temple services. Written after
the return from captivity, 1 Chronicles, we might
say, is a sort of historical sermon, based on 2
Samuel and designed to encourage the returned
exiles in the work of restoring temple worship to
its proper place in their national life.
In 2 Samuel 2^1 we are told how David was
made king over Judah after the death of Saul and
reigned for 7 1/2 years from his capital at Hebron.
During this time there was war with Saul’s sonlsh-
bosheth. After Ish-bosheth’s death, David was
made king over all Israel.
David’s first act as king over all Israel was to
capture Jerusalem and make it the capital of the
nation, as is told more fully in 2 Samuel 5.
Jerusalem was more centrally located and virtually
impregnable, on a mountain with valleys on the
east, west, and south sides. During the 400 years
from Joshua to David, Israel had been unable to
take it, so the Jebusites were still there (Joshua
15:63; 2 Samuel 5:6-10; 1 Chronicles 11:4-5).
Jerusalem became the City of David in a very
literal sense: it was his personal property.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The
Watercourse. This watercourse (Heb. sinnor; 2
Samuel 5:8), by which Joab and David’s men
gained entrance to Jerusalem, was discovered in
1998 by Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron. It consists
of a large pool, which collected water from the
Gihon Spring and was guarded by two massive
towers. An underground secret passageway led
from inside the city to a point where water could
be drawn from the pool — so that the residents of
the city did not have to go outside the city wall to
draw water.
1 P ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: David’s
Jerusalem. In the 1980s, a rounded “stepped-
stone” structure, five stories high, was discovered.
It apparently supported an old Jebusite citadel
(maybe called “Zion”) which was captured by
David. David’s city made use of the massive city
wall that the Canaanites had built about 1800 B.c.
The city captured by David was about 15 acres in
size and housed about 2000 people.
1 Chron. 13-16 THE ARK
BROUGHT TO JERUSALEM
The ark had been captured by the Philistines (1
Samuel 4:11). It remained with them for seven
months (1 Samuel 6:1) before it was sent back by
the Philistines to Israel in order to stop the plagues
that had accompanied its capture and possession. It
then stayed at Kiriath Jearim, some 8 1/2 miles
northwest of Jerusalem, for 20 years (1 Samuel
7:2). David, after establishing Jerusalem as the
national capital, called all Israel together to bring
the ark to Jerusalem in a grand ceremonial
procession.
But the unfortunate Uzzah incident interrupted
the procession (13:10). Uzzah’s death for his
impulsive gesture to save the ark (13:9) seems
severe to us. However, only Levites were to carry
the ark (15:2, 13), and Uzzah’s act was in direct
violation of the Law (Numbers 4:15). His death
was a warning to be careful.
After three months at the house of Obed-Edom
(13:14), who was a Levite (15:17-18, 21, 24), the
ark was brought into Jerusalem amid great
rejoicing and placed in a tent that David had made
for it (15:1). The original tabernacle was at
Gibeon, six miles northwest of Jerusalem (2 1 :29).
David’s polygamy (14:3) was against the law
of God. But it was the custom of ancient kings, one
of the signs of prestige and royalty, which the
people seemed to expect of their rulers — a custom
toward which, in Old Testament times, God
seemed lenient. However, David reaped a harvest
of family troubles (see on 2 Samuel 13).
1 Chron. 17 DAVID’S PLAN TO
BUILD THE TEMPLE
Building the temple was David’s idea. God was
satisfied with a tent (vv. 4-6), but God gave in,
although He would not allow David to build the
temple because he had been a man of war and had
shed much blood (22:8; 28:3). The task of building
the temple was assigned to David’s son and
successor, Solomon(17: 11-14; 28:6).
1 Chron. 18-20 DAVID’S
VICTORIES (See on 2 Samuel 8.)
1 Chron. 21 THE PEOPLE
NUMBERED (See on 2 Samuel 24.)
1 Chron. 22 DAVID’S
PREPARATIONS FOR THE
TEMPLE
Though forbidden to actually build the temple,
David laid the plans for it and devoted a large part
of his reign to collecting vast amounts of gold and
silver and all kinds of building material, estimated
to have amounted not to millions but to several
billion dollars in today’s market. It was to be “of
great magnificence and fame and splendor in the
sight of all the nations” (22:5). It was to be the
crowning glory of the kingdom. David’s charge to
Solomon and the leaders of Israel is expanded in
chapter 28.
1 Chron. 23 DUTIES OF THE
LEVITES
Now that the temple was to be permanently located
in Jerusalem, there would be no more need to carry
the tabernacle (v. 26), so the work of the Levites
was restructured. Some of them were to oversee
the work of the temple (v. 4); some were to be
doorkeepers (v. 5); others, musicians (v. 5; 15:16);
and there was to be a choir of 4000 Levites. Some
Levites were to be officers and judges over Israel,
away from the temple, while others handled the
affairs of the king (23:4; 26:29, 32). Thus it
certainly looks as if the Levites’ duties involved
the service of God as well as a significant role in
the civil government.
1 Chron. 24-25 THE
ORGANIZATION OF THE
PRIESTS AND LEVITES
The priests were divided into 24 divisions for
service in the sanctuary. They were the officials of
the sanctuary and officials of God (v. 5) and were
in charge of the sacrifices. Their business in reality
ceased with the coming of Christ. Ironically, it was
Levite priests who engineered the crucifixion of
Christ (Matthew 27:1, 6, 20, 41).
David also said to Solomon his son, “Be
strong and courageous, and do the work.
Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the
Lord God, my God, is with you. He will
not fail you or forsake you until all the
work for the service of the temple of the
Lord is finished. ”
— 1 Chronicles 28:20
The Levites were further organized, some to
serve as gatekeepers in the temple, others to take
charge of the temple treasury, and some especially
as musicians, whose business did not cease with
the coming of Christ but rather took on new
meaning. David was a great musician. With all his
soul, he delighted in making the heavens ring with
songs of praise to God (15:27-28; 16:41-42). The
musicians included some of the sons of Asaph; the
headings of Psalm 50 and 73-83 indicate that they
are psalms of Asaph.
1 Chron. 27 MILITARY, CIVIL,
AND COURT LEADERS
David also arranged for the appointment of army
commanders, tribal officers, and overseers of the
royal household. The latter was, in oriental
fashion, very extensive, with orchards, vineyards,
herds, workers — everything to ensure that the
king’s needs were well supplied.
1 Chron. 28-29 DAVID’S FINAL
WORD AND PRAYER
David’s final words and his last prayer concern the
temple. That is what his heart was on, as his soul
took its flight to the house not made with hands.
The man after God’s own heart had served his
generation nobly. And what a joy it must have been
when he met Him who later bore the name “Son of
David”!
2 Chronicles
The Reign of Solomon
The History of Judah
“If my people, who are called by my name,
will humble themselves and pray and seek
my face and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive
their sin and will heal their land. ”
— 2 Chronicles 7:14
Parallel stories should be read in both 2
Chronicles and in 1-2 Kings, since they often
include different details and even events.
2 Chron. 1-9 THE TEMPLE AND
THE GLORY OF SOLOMON’S
REIGN (970-931 b.c.)
(See also on 1 Kings 1—11.) For 400 years, Israel
had only had a tent, the tabernacle, as the house of
God among them, and God, it seems, had been
satisfied (2 Samuel 7:5-7). Yet, when it appeared
expedient that they have a temple, God wanted to
have a say as to the kind of building it should be.
He gave David plans for it in his own handwriting
(1 Chronicles 28:19; Exodus 25:9); it would be
magnificent, and it would be famous throughout the
world (1 Chronicles 22:5).
Samuel, Kings, and
Chronicles
The entire history of the kingdom of Israel is
told in the two books of Samuel and the two
books of Kings. The books of Chronicles tell
the same story, often with different details.
In broad outline,
• 1-2 Samuel = 1 Chronicles
• 1-2 Kings = 2 Chronicles (both 1
Kings and 2 Chronicles begin with
Solomon)
The main differences are that
• 1 Chronicles begins with a lengthy
genealogy — beginning with Adam — but it
omits the stories of Samuel and Saul
(except for Saul’s suicide);
• 2 Chronicles omits entirely the history of
the northern kingdom.
David had wanted to build the temple, but he
was not allowed to because he was a man of war
(1 Chronicles 22:8). God helped David in his
wars, but He did not think that a man of war should
build His house. Otherwise, conquered nations
might feel bitter toward Israel’s God, and God’s
purpose was to win, through His nation, other
nations to Himself.
The Temples of God
The Tabernacle. The house of God in Israel
for 400 years was only a tent. Most of the
time it stood at Shiloh. (See on Exodus 25-
40.)
Solomon’s Temple. Its glory was short-lived.
It was plundered within five years after
Solomon’s death and was destroyed by
Babylonians 340 years later, in 586 b.c.
Zerubbabel’s Temple. Also known as the
Second Temple. Built after the return from
captivity, it stood for 500 years. (See under
Ezra and Nehemiah.)
Herod’s Temple. This was the temple to
which Christ came. It was an expansion of
Zerubbabel’s temple. Built by Herod the
Great, it was a truly magnificent building of
marble and gold, surrounded by courts and
porticos. It was destroyed by the Romans in
a.d. 70. (See under John 2:13.)
Christ’s Body. Jesus called His body a
temple (John 2:19-21). In Him God lived
among men. Jesus said that earthly temples
were not necessary to the worship of God
(John 4:20-24).
The Church, collectively, is a temple of God,
God’s dwelling-place in the world (1
Corinthians 3:16-19; there is no biblical basis
for calling a church building a “temple”).
Each Individual Christian is a temple of God
(1 Corinthians 6:19), of which the grandeur of
Solomon’s temple may have been a type.
Ezekiel’s Temple (Ezekiel 40-43) was not an
actual temple, but a vision of a future, ideal,
restored temple.
The Temple in Heaven. The tabernacle was
a pattern of something in heaven (Hebrews
9:11, 24). John saw a temple (Revelation
11:19). Later, God and the Lamb had become
the temple (Revelation 21 :22).
(Synagogues do not belong in this list. They
came into existence during the Babylonian
captivity and were not temples but houses of
teaching and worship in any community that
had a sufficiently large Jewish population. See
Religious Institutions in the the chapter The
400 Years Between the Testaments.)
The temple was built of great stones, cedar
beams, and boards, overlaid inside with gold (1
Kings 6:14-22; 7:9-12). The gold and silver and
other materials used in building the temple (1
Chronicles 22:14-16; 29:2-9) came to some 370
tons (340 metric tons), making it, without doubt,
the most costly and resplendent building on earth at
the time. The pomp and grandeur of the temple may
have served a purpose, but its gold became an
object of greed to other kings.
2 Chron. 10-12 REHOBOAM,
KING OF JUDAH (931-913 b.c.)
(Rehoboam’s story is also told in 1 Kings 12-14.)
A son of Solomon, he reigned for 17 years. Under
his reign, the magnificent kingdom of Solomon took
a plunge from its pinnacle of glory. Ten of the 12
tribes seceded from his kingdom to form the
northern kingdom, Israel. And Shishak, the king of
Egypt, plundered Jerusalem (12:2-9).
Jerusalem Under David and Solomon
nom Vet&y
Rehoboam built fortresses in the Negev to protect his access
to the Red Sea. These small fortresses, perhaps 150 feet in
diameter, were often built in sight of each other. But they were
not enough to keep Shishak of Egypt at bay.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Shishak’s
Invasion of Judah. Shishak’s own record of this
campaign is inscribed on the south wall of the
great Temple of Amon at Karnak, in which he is
depicted as presenting 150 “cities” of Palestine to
his god Amon.
A fragment of a monument he set up in
Megiddo has been found.
Although Shishak received tribute from
Rehoboam of Jerusalem, the cities he conquered
indicate that he was active north of Jerusalem, in
Israel, and south of Jerusalem, in the Negev.
2 Chron. 13 ABIJAH (ABIJAM),
KING OF JUDAH (913-911 b.c.)
(Told also in 1 Kings 15:1-8.) Abijah reigned only
three years. He was wicked like his father. But in
his battle with Jeroboam, king of Israel, he relied
on the Lord and won, recovering some of the cities
of the northern kingdom.
2 Chron. 14-16 ASA, KING OF
JUDAH (911-870 bc)
(Told also in 1 Kings 15:9-24.) Asa reigned for 41
years. His long reign overlapped the reigns of
seven kings of the northern kingdom, Israel. He
was a good king, serving the Lord with great zeal.
A wave of reform swept the land. He broke down
the foreign altars, high places, pillars or sacred
stones, sun-images, and the Asherah poles. He
even removed his mother as queen because she
worshiped an idol. Under Asa, the kingdom of
Judah was very prosperous.
2 Chron. 17-20 JEHOSHAPHAT,
KING OF JUDAH (872-848 b.c.)
(Told also in 1 Kings 22:41-50.) He reigned for
25 years. He followed in the footsteps of his father
and sought the Lord in all things. He inaugurated a
system of public instruction by sending priests and
Levites with the Book of the Law on regular
circuits, to teach the people. He established courts
of justice throughout the land. He maintained a vast
army and became so powerful that he intimidated
his neighbors, including the Philistines. Even when
he made an unwise alliance with King Ahab of
Israel, God still protected him (18:30-32).
2 Chron. 21 JEHORAM
(JORAM), KING OF JUDAH
(853-841 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 8:16-24.) Jehoram reigned
eight years. Son of a good father and grandfather,
he was ruined by his marriage to a wicked woman,
Athaliah, a daughter of the infamous Jezebel (1
Kings 18:4, 13; 19:1-2; 21; 2 Kings 9). Under his
reign Jerusalem was plundered by Arabs and the
Philistines. He died, unmourned, of a horrible
intestinal disease, perhaps an extreme form of
dysentery, and was not even buried with royal
honor: “He passed away, to no one’s regret, and
was buried in the City of David, but not in the
tombs of the kings” (2 1 :20).
2 Chron. 22:1-9 AHAZIAH
(JEHOAHAZ), KING OF JUDAH
(841 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 8:25-29.) Ahaziah reigned
for only one year. He was the son of Athaliah and
the grandson of Jezebel. He was very wicked and
was killed by Jehu (2 Kings 9: 14-29).
2 Chron. 22:10-23:21
ATHALIAH, QUEEN OF JUDAH
(841-835 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 11.) Athaliah reigned for six
years. She was a daughter of the infamous Jezebel,
and devilish like her mother. She had married
Jehoram, the king of Judah, and ruined him. She
was the mother of Judah’s next king, Ahaziah, who
was as evil as she. Thus, she was queen for eight
years and queen mother for one year, in addition to
the six years she ruled in her own right — 15 years
in all. Fanatically devoted to Baalism, she
massacred her own grandchildren.
2 Chron. 24 JOASH (JEHOASH),
KING OF JUDAH (835-796 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 12.) Joash reigned 40 years
(which probably include Athaliah’s six years).
Joash was a grandson of Athaliah. While Athaliah
was murdering the royal house, Joash, the son of
Ahaziah, was taken away as a baby and hidden in
the temple for six years. When Joash was seven
years old, his uncle, Jehoiada the high priest,
engineered the removal of Athaliah and placed
Joash on the throne. Jehoiada was the real ruler as
long as he lived. Under his tutorship, Joash cleared
the land of Baalism, repaired the temple, which
Athaliah had broken into and desecrated, and
restored the worship of God.
Joash did what was right as long as Jehoiada
was alive. But after Jehoiada’s death, the
prominent leaders of Judah, who had known the
licentious worship of Ashtoreth, convinced him to
set up the idols again. Joash even ordered
Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada who had placed him
on the throne, to be stoned to death. Within a year
after Zechariah’s death, the Syrians came,
plundered Jerusalem, and killed the leaders who
had persuaded Joash. Joash himself was
assassinated in his bed as revenge for the
execution of Zechariah. He was buried without
royal honor.
2 Chron. 25 AMAZIAH, KING OF
JUDAH (796-767 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 14:1-22.) Amaziah reigned
for 29 years. Amaziah did right, yet ended up
worshiping the gods of the Edomites. He lost a war
with Israel, and Jerusalem was plundered by
Israel’s king. He was assassinated.
2 Chron. 26 UZZIAH (AZARIAH),
KING OF JUDAH (792-740 bc)
(Told also in 2 Kings 15:1-7.) Uzziah reigned for
52 years, part of which may have been as coregent
with his father, Amaziah. He did what was right
and set himself to seek God. As long as he sought
God, God made him to prosper. He had a huge
army, with remarkably sophisticated equipment
(vv. 13-15). He was victorious over the
Philistines, Arabs, and Ammonites. Under Uzziah,
the kingdom of Judah reached its greatest extent
since the secession of the Ten Tribes in 931 B.c.
But he became arrogant, and God afflicted him
with leprosy.
) t ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Uzziah.
Because Uzziah was a leper, he was not buried in
the tombs of the kings of Judah but “in a field for
burial that belonged to the kings” (2 Chronicles
26:23). Evidently his bones were eventually
reburied, for E. L. Sukenik discovered, in 1931, in
a Russian monastery on the Mount of Olives, a
limestone plaque, 14 by 13 inches, from the
Second Temple Period, written in Hebrew script,
which says, “Hither were brought the bones of
Uzziah, king of Judah. Not to be opened!” But the
actual remains of the king were not discovered.
2 Chron. 27 JOTHAM, KING OF
JUDAH (750-732 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 15:32-38.) Jotham reigned
for 16 years, mostly as coregent with his father. He
became mighty because he did what was right in
the eyes of the Lord, as his father Uzziah had done.
Uzziah’s leprosy undoubtedly served as a warning
to Jotham
3 f ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Jotham. A
seal has been found in the excavations at Tell el-
Kheleifeh inscribed: “Belonging to Jotham”
2 Chron. 28 AHAZ, KING OF
JUDAH (735-716 bc)
(Told also in 2 Kings 16.) Ahaz reigned for 16
years. Part of this time he seems to have been
coregent with his father — but he was utterly
different: a wicked young king who set himself
against the policies of his forefathers. He
reintroduced Baal worship and revived Molech
worship — he even burnt his own sons in the fire.
But it helped him not. Syria and Israel attacked him
from the north, the Edomites from the east, and the
Philistines from the west. Judah paid a very high
price for Ahaz’s sins.
2 Chron. 29-32 HEZEKIAH, KING
OF JUDAH (716-687 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 18-20.) Hezekiah reigned for
29 years. He inherited a disorganized realm and a
heavy burden of tribute to Assyria, but he began his
reign with a great reformation. He destroyed the
idols Ahaz had set up, reopened and cleansed the
temple, and restored the worship of God. He
trusted in God, and God was with him. He
prospered and gained independence from Assyria.
The prophet Isaiah was his trusted adviser.
In Hezekiah’s 14th year, Sennacherib invaded
Judah. He sent a taunting message to Hezekiah —
not in Aramaic, the language of commerce and
diplomacy, but in Hebrew, so that all the people
could understand it (2 Kings 18:17-37). Hezekiah
paid him tribute.
During a visit of envoys from Babylon,
Hezekiah foolishly showed them the wealth of
Jerusalem and the temple (2 Kings 20:12-15),
perhaps in hopes of establishing an alliance with
the Babylonians against the Assyrians.
Sennacherib again invaded Judah (701 B.c.).
Hezekiah strengthened the wall of Jerusalem, built
the water tunnel, and made great military
preparations. Then followed the great deliverance
by the Angel of the Lord (2 Kings 19:35). This
victory brought Hezekiah great prestige and power.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Ivory
Pomegranate. A tiny ivory pomegranate from
the days of the Judean king Hezekiah (late 8th
century B.c.) surfaced in the antiquities market. It
was probably once the head on the top of a scepter
used by Israelite priests in the First Temple in
Jerusalem. It is inscribed in ancient Hebrew
characters and reads: “Holy to the priests,
belonging to the T[emple of Yah we] h” (the words
in brackets are restored).
This portion of Sennacherib’s relief shows his attack on
Lachish. The defend-ers are throwing burning torches down
on the siege towers and the ladders used to scale the walls.
The rest of the relief shows the attackers pouring water on the
leather covers of the siege towers to keep them from catching
fire.
The six-sided prism of baked clay on which Senncherib details
his exploits. The prism is only 15 inches tall.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Hezekiah’s
Wall. Hezekiah repaired and built the walls of
Jerusalem (32:5; Isaiah 22:10). Professor Nahum
Avigad found over 200 feet of a wall dating to the
8th century B.c. (Hezekiah’s century), which was
23 feet thick and in places was preserved to a
height of over 10 feet. (See also on Isaiah 22:10.)
3 t ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Hezekiah’s
Tunnel and the Siloam Inscription. The
tunnel by which Hezekiah brought water into the
city (32:3-4; 2 Kings 20:20) has been found. The
Gihon Spring was situated at the east foot of Ophel
Hill (see map: Expansion of Jerusalem Under
Hezekiah ). just outside the wall. Hezekiah’s
workmen cut a tunnel through solid rock, under the
hill, that runs 1,700 feet southwest from the spring
to the Pool of Siloam inside the wall, thus
diverting the water of the spring from its natural
flow into the Brook Kidron. The tunnel is an
average height of about six feet and an average
width of 2 1/2 feet. Its drop is seven feet. At its
southern exit the Siloam Inscription was found.
The Siloam Inscription was discovered in
1880 by some schoolboys at the south end of the
tunnel. This five-line inscription, written in
Hebrew, was carelessly cut from the rock, sent to
Istanbul, and now resides in a museum. This
inscription describes the construction of the tunnel:
“The tunnel was driven through. And this was
the way in which it was cut through: While [the
stonecutters were lifting up their pick], each man
toward his fellow (i.e., from opposite ends), and
while there were still three cubits to be cut
through, [there was heard] the voice of a man
calling to his fellow. . . . And when the tunnel was
driven through, the stonecutters hewed the rock,
each man toward his fellow, axe against axe. And
the water flowed from the spring toward the
reservoir for 1,200 cubits, and the height of the
rock above the heads of the stonecutters was 100
cubits.”
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE:
Sennacherib’s Invasion of Judah. In his
invasion of Judah (32:1), Sennacherib took
fortified cities of Judah (2 Kings 18:13), laid siege
to Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:17), but returned without
taking Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:35-36).
Sennacherib’s own account of this invasion has
been found on a clay prism he himself had made.
One copy of it is now in the Oriental Institute
Museum in Chicago. Sennacherib says in part:
“As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to
my yoke. I laid siege to 46 of his strong cities,
walled forts, and to the countless small villages in
their vicinity, and conquered [them]. ... I drove
out of them 200,150 people, young and old, male
and female, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, big
and small cattle beyond counting and considered
[them] booty. Hezekiah himself I made prisoner in
Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a
cage. I surrounded him with earthwork in order to
molest those who were leaving his city’s gate. . . .
Thus I reduced his country, but I still increased his
tribute.”
While no Assyrian king would ever record a
defeat such as Sennacherib’s army suffered before
the walls of Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:35-36), it is
significant that he did not claim to have taken
Jerusalem. It is indeed a most remarkable
co nfi rmation of biblical history.
i ii ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The Tribute
Hezekiah Sent to Sennacherib. The
inscription of Sennacherib relates to the account in
2 Kings 18:14-16 and says: “Hezekiah himself,
whom the terror-inspiring splendor of my lordship
had overwhelmed and whose . . . troops had
deserted him, did send to me, later, to Nineveh, my
lordly city, together with 30 talents of gold, 800
talents of silver, precious stones, ... In order to
deliver the tribute and to do obeisance as a slave
he sent his [personal] messenger.”
2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Lachish.
Lachish is among the cities named which suffered
at the hands of Sennacherib (32:9). At Lachish
there is a huge burn level dated to the destruction
of Sennacherib in 701 B.c. On the walls of
Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh, uncovered by Sir
Austen Henry Layard, a long sculptured relief of
his encampment at Lachish bore this inscription:
“Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria,
sat upon [his] throne and passed in review the
booty taken from Lachish.”
3 P ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE:
Sennacherib’s Assassination. Concerning
Sennacherib’s assassination (32:21; 2 Kings
19:36-37), an Assyrian inscription says: “On the
20th day of Tebet, Sennacherib was killed by his
sons in revolt. On the 18th day of Sivan,
Esarhaddon, his son, ascended the throne.”
2 Chron. 33:1-20 MANASSEH,
KING OF JUDAH (697-642 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 21:1-18.) Manasseh was the
wickedest of all of Judah’s kings and had the
longest reign — 55 years. He rebuilt the idols his
father Hezekiah had destroyed and reestablished
Baal worship. He burnt his own children in the
fire. He filled Jerusalem with blood. Tradition
says that he had the prophet Isaiah sawn in half.
3 t ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Manasseh.
An inscription of King Esarhaddon of Assyria
(681-668 B.c.) says, “During my march [to Egypt]
22 kings from the seashore, the islands, and the
mainland, servants who belong to me, brought
heavy gifts to me and kissed my feet.” A related
inscription lists these 22 kings, among whom is
Manasseh, king of Judah.
2 Chron. 33:21-25 AMON, KING
OF JUDAH (643-641 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 2 1 : 19-25.) Amon reigned for
two years and was wicked.
2 Chron. 34-35 JOSIAH, KING
OF JUDAH (641-609 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 22-23.) Josiah became king
when he was eight years old and reigned for 31
years. When he was 16, he began to seek after the
God of David, and he began his reforms when he
was 20. The finding of the Book of the Law, when
Josiah was 26, gave great impetus to his reforms —
the most thoroughgoing reformation Judah had
known yet. But the people were at heart idolaters;
the long and wicked reign of Manasseh had just
about obliterated God from their thinking. Josiah’s
reforms delayed, but could not avert, the fast
approaching doom of Judah.
Pharaoh’s march against Carchemish (35:20—
24) gave a final blow to the sinking Assyrian
Empire. Josiah, as a vassal of Assyria, considered
it his duty to attack the Pharaoh. He did so at
Megiddo and was killed.
2 Chron. 36:1-4 JEHOAHAZ
(JOAHAZ), KING OF JUDAH (609
B.C.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 23:30-34.) After reigning all
of three months, Jehoahaz was deposed by Pharaoh
and taken to Egypt, where he died.
2 Chron. 36:5-8 JEHOIAKIM,
KING OF JUDAH (609-598 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 23:34-24:7.) Jehoiakim was
placed on the throne by Pharaoh and reigned 11
years. After three years he was subdued by
Babylon (Daniel 1:1) and served the king of
Babylon for three years. Then he revolted. The
king of Babylon came and bound him in chains to
carry him to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:6). But he
died, or was killed, before he could leave the city,
and he received “the burial of a donkey — dragged
away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem”
(Jeremiah 22:19; 36:30). He was conceited, hard-
hearted, and wicked, the exact opposite of his
father Josiah. He repeatedly tried to kill the
prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:21;36:26).
2 Chron. 36:8-10 JEHOIACHIN
(JECONIAH), KING OF JUDAH
(598-597 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 24:6-17.) Jehoiachin reigned
for three months before he was taken to Babylon,
where he lived at least 37 years (2 Kings 24:15;
25:27).
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Jehoiachin.
A number of storage jar handles bearing the seal
impression “Belonging to Eliakim, steward of
Jehoiachin” have been found in excavations at Tell
Beit Mirsim, Beth Shemesh, and Ramat Rahel.
Jehoiachin was released from prison in
Babylon and given a regular allowance of rations
by the king of Babylon (2 Kings 25:27-30).
Cuneiform ration tablets found at Babylon also
indicate that Jehoiachin and his relatives received
rations from the Babylonian monarch.
2 Chron. 36 ZEDEKIAH, KING OF
JUDAH (597-586 b.c.)
(Told also in 2 Kings 24-25). Zedekiah was
placed on the throne by King Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon and reigned for 11 years. He was a weak
king. In his fourth year he visited Babylon, but later
rebelled against it. Then Nebuchadnezzar came,
destroyed Jerusalem, took Zedekiah, put out his
eyes, and carried him in chains to Babylon, where
he died in prison (Jeremiah 52:11).
The people of Judah were taken to Babylonia,
in what is known as the Babylonian captivity or the
Babylonian exile.
This was the apparent end of David’s kingdom.
(See further under 2 Kings 25.) After the kingdom
of Judah came to an end, Gedaliah was made
governor of the region (2 Kings 25:22; see on
Jeremiah 40).
Some of the people who were left behind when
most of Judah was deported to Babylon fled to
Egypt, along with the prophet Jeremiah (2 Kings
25:26; see on Jeremiah 42).
Unlike the northern kingdom, which was
deported to Assyria and disappeared from the
scene, Judah survived its Babylonian captivity.
The proclamation of Cyrus almost 50 years later
would initiate the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the
temple (v. 22; see on Ezra 1).
THE BABYLONIAN EXILE AND
THE RETURN EROM EXILE
Ezra-Esther
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
The three books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther,
which cover about 100 years (538-432 B.C.), form
the closing section of Old Testament history. They
tell the story of the Jews’ return from Babylon, of
the rebuilding of the temple and Jerusalem, and of
the reestablishment of the Jews’ national life in
their homeland.
The last three of the Old Testament prophets —
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi — lived and
worked during this same period of return and
restoration.
The Ex il e (586-538 B.c.)
With the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in
586 b.c., the people of God entered a new phase of
their history. The period from 586 to 538 B.c. is
called the “Exilic period,” or the “Babylonian
exile,” or the “Babylonian captivity.” By “exile” it
is meant that a large number of Israelites and
Judeans now were living outside of the Promised
Land — in “foreign countries.”
The deportations of Israelites had actually
begun during the time of the Assyrian attacks on,
and eventual conquest of, Israel in 733 and 722
B.c. (See Deportation of Israel by Assyria in 2
Kings and the chapter on Ezekiel .) After the battle
of Carchemish (on the west bank of the Euphrates,
on the modern border between Syria and Turkey)
in 609 B.c., the Babylonians replaced the Assyrians
as the world power. God used them as His
instrument of judgment as they deported Judeans in
605, 597, 586, and 582 B.c. In addition, it is
probable that a good number of Israelites and
Judeans emigrated of their own accord to Syria,
Egypt, or even Asia Minor (Turkey) in order to
avoid the onslaught of the Assyrians and
Babylonians — thus beginning their “exile” from the
land of promise.
These deportees must have been asking
themselves a number of questions. Given that God
promised the land of Canaan to the descendants of
Abraham forever — how is it that the land is now
controlled by pagans, while we, God’s people,
have been deported from it? If God chose the
Davidic dynasty to rule forever (2 Samuel 7) —
why is there now no reigning Davidic king (Psalm
89)? How can God allow the place He Himself
chose for His presence to dwell (Psalms 132, 137)
— Jerusalem and God’s temple — to be in ruins and
under foreign control? The answer, of course, was
that the continual sinning of the leaders and of the
people of Israel and Judah had led to God’s
judgment upon them: the covenant curses of
Deuteronomy 28 (especially vv. 32-37) and
Leviticus 26 (vv. 33-39) had fallen upon them.
(See sidebar Deuteronomy: A Treaty Between God
and Israel in the chapter on Deuteronomy.)
It was during this time of questioning and exile
that the book of Kings (our 1 and 2 Kings) was
written to show the people how their disobedience
and that of their ancestors during the past 400 years
had led to the destruction of Jerusalem and of the
temple and to the sorry state of the Davidic
dynasty. God’s people had not repented, in spite of
the insistent and persistent call of God’s prophets
— such as Elijah and Elisha — to do so.
Returns from Exile (538, 458, and 444 B.c.)
But God had also promised that, after judgment,
restoration would follow. And in 539 B.c, (after the
Persians had replaced the Babylonians as the
world-dominating power) the Persian king Cyrus
issued a decree that any Jews who wished to do so
could return to Judah and rebuild their temple.
There were actually three returns from
Babylonia, as recorded in the books of Ezra and
Nehemiah. After the first return, under Zerubbabel,
the temple was rebuilt. After the second return,
under Ezra, and the third return, under Nehemiah,
the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. The events of
the book of Esther fall between the first and second
returns (between Ezra 6 and 7).
The three returns:
538 B.c. Zerubbabel
With 42,360 Jews, 7,337 servants, 200
singers, 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels,
6,720 donkeys, and 5,400 gold and silver
vessels
• The temple is rebuilt under Zerubbabel
the governor and Joshua the priest (Ezra
3-6)
• The prophets Haggai and Zechariah
458 B.c. Ezra
With 1,754 males, 100 talents of gold, 750
talents of silver. It is not stated whether
women and children also went. It takes four
months.
444 B.c, Nehemiah
Nehemiah, as governor, goes with an armed
escort to rebuild and fortify Jerusalem, at
government expense
• The walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt
under Nehemiah the governor and Ezra
the priest (Ezra 7-10; Nehemiah)
• The prophet Malachi
The “Post-exi li c” Period (538-ca. 400 B.c.)
The decree of Cyrus, the return led by Sheshbazzar
in 538 B.c,, and the completion of the rebuilding of
the temple in 516 B.c, “technically” meant that the
Babylonian exile was over. Thus, the period from
538 B.c. until ca. 400 B.c., when the prophetic
voice ceased with the last of Israel’s prophets, is
called the “post-exilic period.” The truth, of
course, is that the majority of Jews living outside
the Promised Land did not return to Judah, for very
large Jewish communities flourished not only in
Babylonia, but also in Egypt, Syria, and Asia
Minor.
On the international scene, Persia ruled the
area from the Indus River in the east to the western
shores of Asia Minor on the Aegean Sea. During
Persian rule there were many new cultural
developments: coinage came into more
widespread use, the legal system developed, and a
postal road from Susa (near ancient Babylon) to
Sardis (near the Aegean coast), ca. 1,700 miles in
length, aided long-distance communication. The
fortunes of Jews living outside of Judea varied.
Usually life in “exile” (later more commonly
called “diaspora”) was not too bad — as evidenced
by the Murashu documents, which provide details
about Jewish trading — but on occasion Jews were
persecuted — as recorded in the book of Esther and
in the extrabiblical Aramaic documents found at
Elephantine in southern Egypt.
Many Jews, both in and out of the land of
Judah, adopted the Aramaic language (Ezra 4:8—
6:18; 7:12-26; and Daniel 2:4-7:28 are written in
Aramaic). It may have been that the institution of
the synagogue has its origins in this period — for
how and where do you worship God when you
don’t live in Judah or Jerusalem? (The Jews who
lived in Elephantine had actually built a temple
there during the 5th century B.c,!) It is evident that
these scattered Jewish communities had their own
leadership — note the elders mentioned in Ezekiel
(8:1; 14:1; 20:1) — and some of them maintained
close contact with the Jewish leadership in
Jerusalem: Aramaic correspondence from the 5th
century B.c. has been found from Elephantine in
southern Egypt, addressed to Jews in Jerusalem.
The Persian Empire
The policy of the Assyrian and Babylonian
kings had been to deport conquered peoples
and scatter them in other lands. The policy of
the Persian kings was exactly the opposite:
they repatriated those peoples, that is, they
sent them back to their own lands.
The Persian kings were more humane than
either the Assyrian or the Babylonian kings.
One of the first acts of the first Persian king,
Cyrus, a singularly noble and just monarch,
was to authorize the return of the Jews to
their own land.
Five Persian kings played a role in the history
of Judah:
• Cyrus (539-530 b.c.) conquered Babylon
(539 b.c.) and made Persia a world
empire. He permitted the Jews to return
to their homeland, in fulfillment of Isaiah’s
prophecy (see sidebar A Summary of
Isaiah’s Predictions in the chapter
Isaiah).
• Cambyses (530-522 b.c.) is thought to
have been the Artaxerxes mentioned in
Ezra 4:7, 11, 23, who stopped work on
the temple.
• Darius I (522-486 b.c.) authorized
completion of the temple (Ezra 6).
• Xerxes (Ahasuerus) (485-464 b.c.) is
famous for his wars with Greece. Esther
became his wife (see the chapter on
Esther ). Mordecai his prime minister.
• Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) (464-423
b.c.) was very favorably disposed toward
the Jews. He authorized Nehemiah, his
cupbearer, to rebuild Jerusalem.
There is not much written material to help
illuminate the life of those who remained in the
land during the exilic period. However, a recent
archaeological discovery at Ketef Hinnom in
Jerusalem seems to indicate a degree of prosperity
for at least some of those who were left behind in
the land by the Babylonians. But it must be
remembered that Jerusalem and the surrounding
cities had been devastated by the Babylonians, and
that living conditions for most of those still living
in the land must have been less than ideal.
As the post-exilic period got under way and the
temple and then the walls of Jerusalem were
rebuilt in 516 and 444 B.c. respectively, the fragile
Judean community was harassed by the Samaritans
to the north, the Ammonites to the east, the Arabs
to the south, and the Ashdodites to the west. It also
seems reasonable to assume that at this time, when
Judah was vulnerable, their age-old enemy the
Edomites moved into the Hill Country of Judah,
into the Hebron area.
The temple, its priesthood, and its service
were certainly focal points for the reconstituted
Jewish community. It was during this time that the
book of Chronicles was written, emphasizing that
these institutions were an important legacy
bequeathed to the post-exilic community. Israel’s
history was retold with this in mind as the writer
of Chronicles stressed the community’s connection
to the past — even tracing genealogies back to
Abraham and Adam! The writer also emphasized
the biblical principle that obedience typically
leads to blessing while disobedience leads to
disaster; that Israel, as God’s people, was a unity;
and that the activities of godly kings were divinely
approved. All of this was to encourage the
fledgling community to remain united and faithful
to God.
It was to this community that persons such as
Zerubbabel, Haggai, Zechariah, Ezra, Nehemiah,
and Malachi ministered, trying to assure them that
God had not abandoned them. However, they
seemed to be aware of the fact that although the
exile had technically “ended,” God’s presence had
not yet returned to the temple, nor had He
delivered His people as completely as He had
promised (compare Isaiah 40-66 and Jeremiah
31). Even though they were aware that the actual
return fell short of the return promised by the
prophets, they, as God’s people, were being called
upon to remain faithful to Him — to await the
climactic deliverance from exile that was still to
come.
The End of the Persian Empire
Almost a century after the time of Artaxerxes I (the
king who had allowed Nehemiah to go back to
Jerusalem and rebuild its walls), the last Persian
king, Darius III, was defeated by Alexander the
Great of Macedonia in the famous battle of Arbela,
near the site of Nineveh, in 331 B.c. The end of the
Persian Empire marked the beginning of the rise of
Greece. For the first time in history, the center of
world power shifted from Asia to Europe. Later it
would shift even farther west, to Rome and the
greatest empire the world had yet seen — the
Roman Empire — of which the Jews and their
country were a part at the time of the New
Testament. (For a summary of the fascinating 400-
year history from the time of Nehemiah to the time
of Christ, see The 400 Years Between the
Testaments .)
Ezra
Return from Captivity
The Rebuilding of the Temple
“Now I, King Artaxerxes, order all the
treasurers of Trans-Euphrates to provide
with diligence whatever Ezra the priest, a
teacher of the Law of the God of heaven,
may ask of you. . . . Whatever the God of
heaven has prescribed, let it be done with
diligence for the temple of the God of
heaven. Why should there be wrath against
the realm of the king and of his sons? ”
— Ezra 7:21-23
According to persistent Jewish tradition, Ezra was
author of the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra,
and Nehemiah; the four books then were originally
one work (see Author in 1 Chronicles; some think
that Nehemiah himself may have written the book
of Nehemiah).
Ezra was a priest, the great-grandson of
Hilkiah the priest, who, 160 years earlier, had
directed King Josiah’s reformation (Ezra 1:1; 2
Kings 22:8), and a most worthy descendant of his
famous ancestor. He went from Babylon to
Jerusalem in 457 B.c., 80 years after the Jews had
first returned under Zerubbabel, and 13 years
before Nehemiah came.
Ezra 1 THE PROCLAMATION OF
CYRUS
The last two verses of 2 Chronicles are the same
as the first two of Ezra, probably because
Chronicles and Ezra were originally one book.
This proclamation, permitting the Jews to return to
Jerusalem, was issued shortly after Daniel had
read the handwriting on the wall, in which it was
declared that Babylon would fall to Persia — which
happened that same night (Daniel 5:25-3 1).
Daniel probably showed to Cyrus the
prophecies that were thus fulfilled (Jeremiah
25:11-12; 29:10) as well as the prophecies of
Isaiah, who 200 years before had called Cyrus by
name, stating that under him the Jews would return
and rebuild Jerusalem (Isaiah 44:26-28; 45:1, 13).
No wonder Cyrus had a high regard for the Jews’
God (v. 3).
Ezra 2 THE REGISTER OF
THOSE WHO RETURNED
According to verses 64-65, a total of 42,360 Jews
returned, plus servants. However, when the
numbers in the list are added together, the total
falls about 11,000 short of this number. This
surplus of 11,000 is thought to have been
composed of exiles from tribes other than Judah.
Ephraim and Manasseh are mentioned in 1
Chronicles 9:3. Israel is named in Ezra 10:25. The
term “all Israel” is used of those who returned, and
12 bulls and 12 he-goats, representing the 12
tribes, were sacrificed (2:70; 6:17; 8:35). This
would make it appear as if the returning exiles of
Judah, in their homeward journey, gathered in
some from other tribes. It helps us to understand
how, in New Testament times, Jews were still
spoken of as the Twelve Tribes (Luke 22:30; Acts
26:7; James 1:1).
Ezra 3 THE FOUNDATION OF
THE TEMPLE IS LAID
In the seventh month of the first year of their return
the Israelites built the altar and kept the Feast of
Tabernacles, in joyous thanksgiving to God. In the
second month of the following year, when the
foundation of the temple was laid, they made the
heavens ring with their shouts of praise and
thanksgiving. But the older men, who had seen the
first temple, wept aloud, so insignificant would the
new temple be compared with Solomon’s temple.
The stele of King Ashurbanipal of Assyria in the British
Museum.
Zerubbabel (v. 2), the governor (Haggai 1:1),
was a grandson of King Jehoiachin, who had been
deported to Babylon (1 Chronicles 3:17-19). He
was the one who would have been king, had there
been a kingdom. With fine courtesy, Cyrus
appointed him to be governor of Judah.
Ezra 4 THE WORK IS STOPPED
As work on the temple and wall (v. 16)
progressed, the peoples to whom the Jews’ land
had been given, and their neighbors, began to
object, and through intimidation and intrigue they
succeeded in stopping the work for 15 years, until
the reign of Darius I.
Ezra 5-6 THE TEMPLE
COMPLETED
Darius I was friendly toward the Jews, and in his
second year (520 B.c.), 16 years after the Jews had
been allowed to go home, work on the temple was
resumed with the encouragement of the prophets
Haggai and Zechariah. Shortly thereafter came the
decree from Darius for the temple to be completed,
with an order to draw on the royal treasury for the
needed funds. Within four years it was completed
and dedicated amid great rejoicing.
The famous Behistun inscription, which
supplied the key to the ancient Babylonian
language (see Mesopotamia in the chapter Writing,
Books, and the Bible), was made by this same
Darius.
Ezra 7-8 EZRA’S JOURNEY TO
JERUSALEM
Between chapters 6 and 7 is a gap of about 60
years. The temple was completed in 515 B.c., and
Ezra came to Jerusalem in 458 B.c., in the reign of
Artaxerxes I, who was Queen Esther’s stepson.
Ezra the priest went to teach Judah the Law of
God, to beautify the temple, and to restore the
temple service.
Ezra 9-10 MIXED MARRIAGES
When Ezra arrived in Jerusalem, he found a
situation that made him heartsick. The people,
priests, Levites, and leaders had freely
intermarried with their idolatrous neighbors — a
thing that God had again and again forbidden the
Jews to do. In fact, it was the very thing that had
led the Jews into idolatry before, which had been
the cause of their captivity. God had sent prophet
after prophet, and judgment after judgment, and at
last had resorted to the captivity, almost wiping the
nation out of existence.
Now a little remnant had come home — and they
are again up to their old tricks of intermarrying
with idolatrous peoples. Ezra’s measures to rid
them of their non-Jewish wives may seem severe
to us, but it was effective.
Ezra helped in further reforms, as noted in the
book of Nehemiah. Tradition makes him the
originator of synagogue worship and president of
the Great Synagogue.
The Great Synagogue was a council, consisting
of 120 members, said to have been organized by
Nehemiah in about 410 B.c., with Ezra as
president. Its purpose was the rebuilding of the
religious life of the returned captives. It is thought
to have governed the returned Jews until about 275
B.c, and to have played an important role in
gathering, grouping, and restoring the canonical
books of the Old Testament.
Nehemiah
The Walls of Jerusalem Are Rebuilt
When all our enemies heard about this, all
the surrounding nations were afraid and lost
their self-confidence, because they realized
that this work had been done with the help
of our God.
— Nehemiah 6:16
“Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is
your strength. ”
— Nehemiah 8:10
When Nehemiah went to Jerusalem in 444 B.c.,
Ezra had been there for 14 years. But Ezra was a
priest, teaching religion to the people. Nehemiah
came as civil governor, with authority from the
king of Persia to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem
and to make it once again a fortified city. By then,
the Jews had been home nearly 100 years, but they
had made little progress beyond rebuilding the
temple — and a very insignificant temple at that —
because whenever they would start work on the
walls, their more powerful neighbors would either
intimidate them into stopping or through intrigue
get orders from the Persian court for the work to
stop.
Neh. 1-2 NEHEMIAH’S
JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM
Parts of the book are in the first person; they are
direct quotations fromNehemiah’s official reports.
Nehemiah was a man of prayer, patriotism,
action, courage, and perseverance. His first
impulse always was to pray (1:4; 2:4; 4:4, 9; 6:9,
14). He spent four months in prayer before he
made his request to the king ( 1 : 1 ; 2: 1).
Nehemiah was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes
(1:11; 2:1), a trusted and important official.
Artaxerxes I was king of Persia (464-423 b.c.),
son of Xerxes, and thus the stepson of Queen
Esther, the Jewess.
Esther became queen of Persia about 60 years
after the Jews had returned to Jerusalem. This must
have given the Jews great prestige at the Persian
court. Esther most probably was still alive, and an
influential personage in the palace, when both Ezra
and Nehemiah went to Jerusalem. Our guess is that
we have Esther to thank for Artaxerxes’ kindly
feeling toward the Jews and his interest in having
Jerusalem rebuilt.
Neh. 3 THE GATES REPAIRED
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Nehemiah’s
Jerusalem. Remains of the “Broad Wall” (3:8),
the “Valley Gate” (3:13), the “Pool of Siloam”
(3:15), and the “Water Gate” (2:14) have been
found in the course of archaeological excavations
in Jerusalem. The city that Nehemiah fortified was
actually slightly smaller than the one the
Babylonians had destroyed. In fact, it was smaller
than Solomon’s Jerusalem — perhaps 35 acres in
size. Nehemiah’s Jerusalem was completely
limited to portions of the eastern hill, where the
original City of David had stood.
Nehemiah's Jerusalem
Neh. 4-6 THE WALL BUILT
* 9 * 1 °
Old-time enemies of the Jews, who were now in
possession of the land — Moabites, Ammonites,
Ashdodites, Arabians, and the recently imported
Samaritans — craftily and bitterly opposed the
rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. They
mobilized their armies and marched against
Jerusalem. But Nehemiah, with faith in God,
skillfully armed and arranged his men and went
straight ahead with the work, day and night. And in
spite of all obstacles, the wall was finished in 52
days. Almost a century and a half after its
destruction in 586 B.c., Jerusalem was once again a
fortified city.
Neh. 7-8 PUBLIC READING OF
THE BOOK OF LAW
After the wall was built, Nehemiah and Ezra
gathered the people together to organize their
national life. Chapter 7 is about the same as Ezra
2: it gives the list of those who had returned to
Jerusalem with Zerubbabel nearly a century
before. There were certain genealogical matters
that had to be attended to.
They read from the Book of the Law of
God, making it clear and giving the
meaning so that the people could
understand what was being read.
— Nehemiah 8:8
Then, for seven days, every day from early
morning till midday, Ezra and his helpers opened
the Book of the Law, read from the Law of God,
and provided explanations so that the people
understood what they heard. This public reading
and exposition of God’s Book brought a great
wave of repentance among the people, a great
revival, and a solemn covenant to keep the Law, as
recorded in chapters 9-10.
It should be noted that it was the finding of the
Book of the Law that brought about Josiah’s great
reformation (2 Kings 22). It was Martin Luther’s
finding of a Bible that led to the Reformation and
brought religious liberty to our modern world. The
weakness of many present-day churches is their
neglect of the very Bible they profess to follow —
the great need of today’s pulpit is simple
expository preaching.
Neh. 9-12 COVENANT.
DEDICATION OF THE WALL
In deep penitence and great earnestness, the people
made a covenant: “In view of all this, we are
making a binding agreement, putting it in writing,
and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are
affixing their seals to it.” They bound themselves
to walk in God’s Law (9:38; 10:29). The wall was
dedicated, and one-tenth of the population was
brought into the city to live, and its government and
temple services were organized.
Neh. 13 NEHEMIAH’S FINAL
REFORMS
The last recorded acts of Nehemiah involve
reforms concerning tithes, the Sabbath, and
marriages between Jews and non-Jews. Nehemiah
was governor of Judah for at least 12 years (5:14).
Josephus says that he lived to a great age and
governed Judah for the rest of his life.
Esther
The Deliverance of the Jews from
Annihilation
“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in
Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink
for three days, night or day. I and my maids
will fast as you do. When this is done, I will
go to the king, even though it is against the
law. And if I perish, I perish. ”
— Esther 4: 16
In the canon, this book comes after the book of
Nehemiah, but the events it describes took place
about 30 years before Nehemiah.
• The first group of Jews returned to Jerusalem
in 538 B.c. Twenty years later the temple was
completed (Ezra 1-6).
• The story of Esther takes place about 40 years
after the temple was rebuilt. She became
queen of Persia in 478 B.c, and saved the
Jews from being massacred in 473 B.c.
• Fifteen years after Queen Esther saved the
Jews, Ezra went to Jerusalem (458 B.c,), and
13 years after that Nehemiah rebuilt the walls
of Jerusalem.
It seems that Esther made possible the work of
Nehemiah. Her marriage to the king must have
given Jews great prestige. It is impossible to guess
what might have happened to the Hebrew nation
had there been no Esther. Except for her, Jerusalem
might never have been rebuilt, and there might
have been a different story to tell to all future ages.
This book of Esther is not just a story with a
moral. It is about a very important historical event:
the Hebrew nation’s deliverance from annihilation
in the days following the Babylonian captivity. If
the Hebrew nation had been wiped out of existence
500 years before it brought Christ into the world, it
would have made all the difference in the world:
no Hebrew nation, no Messiah; no Messiah, a lost
world. This beautiful Jewish girl of long ago,
though she herself may not have known it, yet
played her part in paving the way for the coming of
the world’s Savior.
Est. 1 QUEEN VASHTI DEPOSED
Ahasuerus was another name for Xerxes, who
ruled Persia from 486 to 464 B.c., one of the most
illustrious monarchs of the ancient world. The
great feast described in this chapter, as has been
learned from Persian inscriptions, was held in
preparation for his famous expedition against
Greece, in which he fought the battles of
Thermopylae and Salamis (480 B.c,). ft seems that
he deposed Vashti in 483 B.c., before he left, and
married Esther in 478 B.c., after he returned from
his expedition against Greece (1:3; 2: 16).
3 : ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The Palace
at Susa. Shushan, or Susa, 200 miles east of
Babylon, was the winter residence of Persian
kings. Its site was identified by W. K. Loftus
(1852), who found an inscription of Artaxerxes II
(404-359 B.c,): “My ancestor Darius built this
palace in former times. In the reign of my
grandfather [Artaxerxes I] it was burned. I have
restored it.”
This palace was the residence of Darius, who
authorized the rebuilding of the temple; of Xerxes,
Esther’s husband, and of Artaxerxes I, who
authorized Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem. Susa
was the place where Daniel had his vision (Daniel
8). The remains of Susa are scattered over 100
acres, and the site, beginning in 1851, has been
excavated (except during the two World Wars) for
more than 100 years! From these excavations, it is
evident that the author of Esther was familiar with
the city. The royal palace itself was almost 2 1/2
acres in size, with a whole series of courtyards,
audience hall, residences, and auxiliary rooms.
Est. 2 ESTHER BECOMES
QUEEN
Ahasuerus (Xerxes) died 13 years later. Esther, no
doubt, lived far into the reign of her stepson,
Artaxerxes. As queen- mother she may have been a
person of influence in Persia in the days of Ezra
and Nehemiah.
Est. 3-7 HAMAN’S DECREE
The decree was a call to kill all the Jews in all the
provinces (3:12-13). This was in the king’s 12th
year (3:7), after Esther had been queen for five
years. Her lament, “I have not been summoned to
come to the king for these thirty days,” may
indicate that the novelty of Esther had worn off,
and Esther took a great risk in inviting the king to
the banquet.
But the king came, and when the king saw
Esther again, his reaction shows that she still
pleased him (5:3), even though she had been his
wife for five years.
The outcome was that Haman was hanged, and
his place was given to Mordecai, Esther’s cousin.
The name of God is not mentioned in the book,
perhaps because it may have been copied from
Persian records. Yet God’s providential care of
His people is nowhere more evident.
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Mordecai.
A person named Marduka, whose name was found
on a cuneiform tablet from Borsippa in southern
Iraq, was evidently a minister at the Persian court
in Susa and may actually have been the biblical
Mordecai.
Est. 8-9 DELIVERANCE. THE
FEAST OF PURIM
Since a decree issued by a Persian king could not
be changed (8:8; Daniel 6:15), the decree for the
Jews’ massacre could not be reversed. But Esther
did persuade the king to make another decree that
authorized the Jews to resist and slay all who
would attack them, which they did. Thus Esther
saved the Jewish race from annihilation. This was
the origin of the Feast of Purim, which Jews still
observe. Esther was not only beautiful, but wise.
We admire her for her patriotism and bravery and
tact.
Esther at Susa
TSCi
This story shows us that God’s favor can cause
civil law to be reversed. It also shows how God
uses His faithful servants to influence and direct
ungodly authority. What a comfort this is in a
world that has so many ungodly leaders. We must
pray for the godly civil servants so that God’s plan
can be done through them as it was with Esther.
Est. 10 MORDECAI’S
GREATNESS
Mordecai became more and more powerful; he
was second in rank after the king of Persia (9:4;
10:3). His acts of power and his greatness were
written in detail in the official records of the kings
of Media and Persia. This was in the reign of
Xerxes, the mighty monarch of the Persian Empire.
Xerxes’ prime minister was a Jew; his favorite
wife was a Jewess — Mordecai and Esther, the
brains and heart of the palace! This paved the way
for the work of Ezra and Nehemiah. Like Joseph in
Egypt and Daniel in Babylon, so here God used
Mordecai and Esther in Persia.
POETRY AND WISDOM
Job-Song of Songs
Poetry and wisdom literature in the Old Testament
are closely related. Wisdom literature is generally
poetic in form, but the reverse is not true: not all
Old Testament poetry is wisdom literature.
Five Old Testament books are clearly poetic:
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song
of Songs. (In the Flebrew Bible these books are not
grouped together as they were in the Septuagint and
are in our Bibles.) Of these five books, four are
wisdom (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of
Songs), while the book of Psalms is not.
1. Poetry
As much as one-third of the Old Testament may be
poetry. The reason for the vagueness of this
statement is that it is sometimes difficult to
determine where Hebrew prose ends and Hebrew
poetry begins.
A few books of the Old Testament are
essentially without poetry: Leviticus, Ruth, Ezra,
Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, and Malachi — but even
in these books an occasional poetic form slips in.
And some books are not poetic but contain
well-defined poems, such as Genesis 49; Exodus
15; Deuteronomy 33; and Judges 5.
Characteristics of Hebrew Poetry
English poetry usually rhymes. Hebrew poetry
does not. Instead, Hebrew poetry has two primary
characteristics that can be easily recognized, even
in an English translation: imagery and parallelism.
Figurative Language and Images
• Perhaps the best-known example is “The Lord
is my shepherd” (Psalm 23: 1; a metaphor).
• Another example is “I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God” (Psalm 52:8;
a simile).
• There is exaggeration for effect: “With your
help I can advance against a troop; with my
God I can scale a wall” (Psalm 18:29;
hyperbole).
• Hebrew poetry also often speaks of inanimate
things as if they were alive: “Let the rivers
clap their hands, let the mountains sing
together for joy” (Psalm 98:8;
personification).
Parallelism
Parallelism involves a relationship of thought
between two or more lines. It can be looked at as a
“rhythm of thought.” For example,
• “The Lord watches over the way of the
righteous, but the way of the wicked will
perish” (Psalm 1:6; the second line states the
opposite of the first).
• “For as high as the heavens are above the
earth, so great is his love for those who fear
him” (Psalm 103:11; the first line is a simile,
the second line its literal meaning;
emblematic parallelism).
• “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the
land and enjoy safe pasture” (Psalm 37:3; the
second line completes the thought of the first
line; synthetic or climactic parallelism).
• “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?” (Psalm
15:1; both lines express the same thought in
different words; synonymous parallelism).
Other Characteristics
• Hebrew poetry also uses refrains, for
example in Psalms 42-43, where the refrain
is found three times: “Why are you downcast,
O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put
your hope in God, for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.”
• Sometimes the same statement is made both at
the beginning and at the end of a poem, for
example in Psalm 118, which begins and ends
with the words “Give thanks to the Lord, for
he is good; his love endures forever.”
• Finally, there is the use of acrostic patterns, in
which the first line of a psalm or poem (for
example, in the book of Lamentations) begins
with the first letter of the alphabet, the second
line or strophe with the second letter of the
alphabet, and so on. An example is Psalm
119; in many Bibles the Hebrew letter that
begins each strophe is printed (Aleph, Beth,
etc.).
2. Wisdom Literature
The Hebrew word for wisdom has a much broader
meaning than the English word “wisdom.” It
includes, for example, skill in the making of things,
which is akin to our idea of craftsmanship (Exodus
31:3; Jeremiah 9: 17).
Wisdom in Hebrew encompasses the
willingness and ability to rightly perceive, and to
be rightly related to, the created world in all its
aspects. God has made the world a certain way,
and wisdom means living in accordance with that
basic structure of the universe.
Wisdom literature is poetic in form but
practical in content. It does not try to communicate
factual or abstract knowledge but rather to teach
practical skill in living. Wisdom literature,
therefore, is the Old Testament’s “instruction
manual for life.”
Jeremiah 18:18 shows how important wisdom
was considered to be. It is mentioned alongside the
Law and the Prophets: “For the teaching of the law
by the priest will not be lost, nor will counsel from
the wise, nor the word from the prophets.”
The books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, the
Song of Songs, and some of the psalms, such as
Psalms 1 and 119, are traditionally considered
wisdom literature.
• Job is wisdom because it deals with the
central issue of faith and suffering.
• Ecclesiastes is wisdom because it warns
against cynicism and points the reader toward
simple faith in God.
• The Song of Songs is wisdom because it
describes the intimacy of human marital love.
In the New Testament, the letter of James is
reminiscent of Old Testament wisdom literature.
Ki nds of Wisdom Statements
Some of the more significant types of wisdom
statements are
• Aphorisms. This is what we usually think of
as a “proverb”: a short, pithy saying that has
general validity, such as our “A stitch in time
saves nine.” Much of the book of Proverbs,
beginning with chapter 10, consists of
aphorisms.
• Instruction. These are longer, stylized
discussions about wisdom, such as Proverbs
1:8-9:18.
• “Better” sayings. Better is A with B than C
with D. For example, “Better a little with
righteousness than much gain with injustice”
(Proverbs 16:8).
• Disputation (verbal controversy). The best
example is the book of Job.
Job
The Problem of Suffering
“Shall we accept good from God, and not
trouble? ”
— Job 2:10
“I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the
earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God. ”
—Job 19:25-26
Job is the first of the so-called poetic or wisdom
books, a group of five books that also includes
Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of
Songs. It is a magnificent book that deals with the
problem of suffering: if God is good and just, why
do people suffer?
The Scene of the Book
The land of Uz (1: 1) is thought to have been along
the border between Palestine and Arabia,
extending from Edom north and east toward the
Euphrates River, skirting the caravan route
between Babylon and Egypt.
Job
In a postscript to the book of Job, the Septuagint,
following ancient tradition, identified Job with
Jobab, the second king of Edom (Genesis 36:33).
Names and places mentioned in the book seem to
give it a setting among the descendants of Esau
(see under chapter 2). The book has the
atmosphere of very primitive times and seems to
have its setting among the early tribes descended
from Abraham, along the northern border of
Arabia, roughly contemporaneous with Israel’s
stay in Egypt.
Author of the Book
Nothing is known about the author of the book.
Ancient Jewish tradition ascribed the book to
Moses. We could speculate that while Moses was
in the wilderness of Midian (Exodus 2:15), which
bordered on the country of the Edomites, he could
have heard the story of Job from Job’s
descendants. Since Job was a descendant of
Abraham, Moses could naturally recognize him as
being within the circle of God’s revelation.
Modern critics assign a much later date to the book
of Job, but in the end it is the content of the book
that is important, not our speculative guesses about
its origins.
Nature of the Book
Job may be called a historical poem, that is, a
poem based on an event that actually took place.
Job was a great and well-known man in his part of
the world. All at once, in a single day, he was
crushed by a number of overwhelming calamities.
His vast herds of camels were stolen, and those
who guarded the camels were killed by a band of
Chaldean robbers. At the same time, his herds of
oxen were stolen, and those who took care of them
were killed by a band of Sabean robbers, and his
7000 sheep and their attending servants were
killed by a thunderstorm To top it all off, his 10
children were all killed by a cyclone, and Job
himself came down with a most hideous and
painful disease.
Job’s fate became known far and wide, and for
months Job was the topic of public conversation
everywhere (7:3). The book contains some of the
things that Job, his friends, and God said or wrote.
Subject of the Book
The book of Job deals with the problem of human
suffering. Since very early times, people have been
troubled by the awful inequalities and injustices of
life: how could a good God make a world like this,
where there is so much suffering? The truth is that
God made a good and perfect world (Genesis
1 :3 1). He created man and woman and placed them
in the Garden of Eden, where they were in perfect
relationship with Him — every need was met and
they were greatly blessed. Unfortunately, they
listened to Satan’s deceiving message: “For God
knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good
and evil.” Adam and Eve’s disobedience separated
them and all mankind from the good and perfect
world that God made for His people. Because of
their sin, all people are born into a world of
suffering.
Fortunately, God had a plan to reunite Himself
with man and woman so that mankind may once
again be free from suffering. God sent His Son
Jesus to pay the price for our sins. Through His
death and resurrection, mankind has the
opportunity to regain its right relationship with
God and ultimately to live an eternal life free from
suffering.
Job had very little knowledge of God. Most of
God’s Word had not been written yet. Job, with the
“help” of his friends, is trying to interpret his
suffering without “knowledge” of God (38:1;
42:1-3). Spending time with his friends trying to
determine the cause of this suffering does not
benefit Job — rather, it prolongs his suffering.
Eventually Job stops talking and listens to God.
Job receives “knowledge,” or revelation, of God
as the omnipotent Creator. With this revelation, Job
acknowledges that God can do all things (42:2).
He is now able to focus on the awe-inspiring
reality of God instead of on his own suffering. Job
repents, and God delivers him from his suffering.
God then instructs Job to pray an intercessory
prayer for his friends. Job is obedient to God and
prays for his friends. After Job’s prayer, God
restores Job to prosperity. God actually doubles
Job’s fortune and blesses the latter part of Job’s
life more than the first.
In the end, Job’s battle with Satan is over and
God restores Job. God does not allow us to suffer
without reason. At times the cause of the suffering
may be hidden from our understanding in the
mystery of God’s divine purpose (see Isaiah 55:8—
9). But we must trust in Him and always turn to
Him, even in times of suffering. What a powerful
witness it is to the world for Christians to not be
full of anger and resentment toward God when
suffering! We know that He is a God who loves us
and does only what is right.
The Structure of the Book
Apart from the introduction (chaps. 1-2) and the
conclusion or epilogue (42:7-17), the book of Job
consists of speeches by Job, by his friends, and
finally by God Himself.
Job’s three friends — Eliphaz, Bildad, and
Zophar — take turns trying to explain to Job why he
is suffering, and Job answers each in turn. They go
for three rounds (chaps. 4-14; 15-21; 22-26). In
the first two rounds, all three friends speak up; in
the third round only Eliphaz and Bildad speak,
while Zophar remains silent — he has given up on
Job.
Job then makes a long speech in which he calls
for vindication, since he feels that his suffering is
unjust (chaps. 29-31). After this a fourth friend,
Elihu, speaks up and cautions Job against blaming
God (chaps. 32-37). Finally, God Himself
addresses Job in some of the most majestic
chapters of the Bible (chaps. 38-42:6). Job
repents, and God blesses Job even more than
before.
Job, His Friends, and the Problem of Suffering
In reading through the book of Job, we must
remember that Job never knew why he was
suffering — nor what the final outcome would be.
The first two chapters of Job explain to us why it
happened and make it clear that the reason for his
suffering was not punishment for sin, but rather a
test of Job’s faith that God was confident Job
would pass. But while we as readers of Job know
this, Job himself did not.
Job 1-2 PROLOGUE— JOB
TESTED
The book opens with an account of Job, a desert
prince — or what was in those days called a king —
who had immense wealth and influence and was
famous for his integrity, his piety, and his
benevolence: a good man, who suffered fearful
reverses that came so suddenly and
overwhelmingly that it stunned all of those who
heard about it.
Satan accused Job of having ulterior motives
for being a good man — of being mercenary. Then
God permitted Satan to test his accusation. Job
stood the test and in the end was blessed more than
ever.
i I
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken
away;
may the name of the Lord be praised. ”
—Job 1:21
Job’s disease (2:7) is thought to have been a
form of leprosy, perhaps complicated by
elephantiasis, one of the most horrible and painful
diseases known in the oriental world.
Job’s Friends
Three friends come to comfort Job in his suffering.
For seven days and nights they do fine: they simply
sit with Job. “Then they sat on the ground with him
for seven days and seven nights. No one said a
word to him, because they saw how great his
suffering was” (2:13).
• Eliphaz the Temanite (2:11) was a
descendant of Esau (Genesis 36:11), an
Edomite.
• Bildad the Shuhite was a descendant of
Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:2).
• Zophar the Naamathite was of unknown
origin or locality. All three were probably
nomad princes.
• A fourth friend, who does not enter the picture
until after the other three have quit speaking,
is Elihu the Buzite (32:2), a descendant of
Abraham’s brother Nahor (Genesis 22:21).
In the conversations that follow, Job speaks
nine times; Eliphaz, three times; Bildad, three
times; Zophar, twice; Elihu, once; and God, in a
majestic finale, once.
All three friends try to explain that there is
— has to be — a connection between Job’s present
suffering and his past life. They are looking for a
logical, cause-and-efifect relationship. Their
arguments can all be reduced to this:
a. Job is suffering.
b. God is just and would not allow a person
to suffer without reason.
c. Therefore, Job must have done something
bad to deserve this suffering.
Before his friends come, Job refuses to blame
God: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised” (1:21); and,
“Shall we accept good from God, and not
trouble?” (2:10).
But the more Job defends himself against the
logic of his friends, the more he adopts their
approach and builds his own argument:
a. I am suffering.
b. I know that I have done nothing to deserve
this suffering.
c. The logical conclusion would be that,
therefore, God must be unjust.
But Job never quite draws that final
conclusion; rather, it is,
c. Therefore, God has some explaining to do.
The three friends each base their accusations
on different arguments.
• Eliphaz appeals to experience and
observation: “Consider now: Who, being
innocent, has ever perished? Where were the
upright ever destroyed? As I have observed,
those who plow evil and those who sow
trouble reap it” (4:7-8).
• Bildad appeals to tradition: “Ask the former
generations and find out what their fathers
learned, for we were born only yesterday and
know nothing, and our days on earth are but a
shadow. Will they not instruct you and tell
you? Will they not bring forth words from
their understanding?” (8:8-10).
• Zophar arrogantly speaks as if he knows
exactly what God thinks — he appeals to his
own view of God: ”Oh, how I wish that God
would speak, that he would open his lips
against you and disclose to you the secrets of
wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of
your sin” (11:5-6). Ironically, when God
finally does speak, it is not to condemn Job,
but to condemn Zophar and his friends (42:7-
9).
The final answer Job receives is not
philosophical or logical, ft is a majestic
presentation by God Himself of who He is (38:1-
42:6) — the only satisfactory answer to the problem
of human suffering, ft does not answer the
questions our logical mind comes up with, but it
will satisfy our heart: “1 know that my Redeemer
lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the
earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in
my flesh I will see God” (19:25-26).
The grand lesson of the book as a whole is that
Job, through his suffering, in the end comes to see
God in His majesty and greatness as he had never
seen Him before. That is the true reward. The fact
that Job is also abundantly rewarded with greater
prosperity and blessedness than he had at first is
almost an afterthought (42:12-16).
Job 3 JOB’S COMPLAINT
Job wishes he had never been born and longs for
death.
Job 4-14 THE FIRST CYCLE OF
SPEECHES
Chapters 4-5. Eliphaz speaks. He advises Job to
turn to God (5:8) and suggests that if Job would
only repent, his troubles would disappear (5:17-
27).
Chapters 6-7. Job’s reply. Job is
disappointed in his friends. He longs for sympathy,
not stinging reproof (6:14-30). He seems dazed.
He knows full well that he is not a wicked man, yet
his body is “clothed with worms” (7:5). He just
cannot understand: even if he has sinned, it surely
was not so serious as to deserve such terrible
punishment. He prays that he may die (6:9).
Chapter 8. Bildad speaks. He insists that God
is just and that Job’s troubles must be evidence of
his wickedness — if he will only turn to God, all
will be well again.
Chapters 9-10. Job’s reply. Job insists that he
is not guilty (10:7) and that God sends misfortune
on the blameless as well as the wicked (9:22). He
complains bitterly and wishes again that he had
never been born ( 10:18-22).
Chapter 11. Zophar speaks. He brutally and
arrogantly tells Job that his punishment is less than
he deserves (v. 6), and he insists that if Job will
put away his sin, his sufferings will pass and be
forgotten, and security, prosperity, and happiness
will return (13- 19).
Chapters 12-14. Job’s reply. He grows
sarcastic at their cutting words: “Doubtless you are
the people, and wisdom will die with you! But I
have a mind as well as you; I am not inferior to
you. Who does not know all these things?” ( 12:2—
3). They’re simply stating (and restating)
conventional wisdom, but it doesn’t apply here!
“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in
him.’’
—Job 13:15
Job says he wants to “speak to the Almighty
and to argue my case with God. You, however,
smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians,
all of you!” (13:3-4). He tells them in no uncertain
terms that he wants them to shut up: “If only you
would be altogether silent! For you, that would be
wisdom” (13:5; v. 13).
Job asks God to speak and to tell him what it is
he has done wrong (13:20-23).
Job 15-21 THE SECOND CYCLE
OF SPEECHES
Chapter 15. Eliphaz’s second speech. The
argument becomes heated. His sarcasm becomes
bitter (vv. 2-13). Job’s eyes flash (v. 12).
Chapters 16-17. Job’s reply. If you were in
my place, I could shake my head at you and “make
fine speeches against you.” The difference is that
“my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my
lips would bring you relief’ (16:4-5). Only those
who have suffered can truly enter into the suffering
of others — as Christ can understand and enter into
our suffering. Job is desperate: “Who can see any
hope forme?” (17:15).
Chapter 18. Bildad’s second speech. In a fit
of anger, he cries to Job, Why do you “tear
yourself to pieces in your anger?” (v. 4). And
assuming Job’s wickedness, he tries to frighten Job
into repentance by depicting the awful doom of the
wicked.
Chapter 19. Job’s reply. His friends abhor
him (v. 19); his wife is a stranger to him (v. 17);
children despise him (v. 18); he begs for some
compassion from his friends: “Have pity on me,
my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has
struck me. Why do you pursue me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?” (v. 21).
Then, suddenly, out of the depths of despair, as
the sunlight breaks through a rift in the clouds, Job
bursts forth into one of the most sublime
expressions of faith ever uttered: “I know that my
Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand
upon the earth. And after my skin has been
destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself
will see him with my own eyes — I, and not
another. How my heart yearns within me!” (vv. 25-
27).
Chapter 20. Zophar’s second speech. Zophar
is offended by Job’s words. Assuming Job’s
wickedness, he sets out to portray the deplorable
fate in store for the wicked.
“But he knows the way that I take; when
he has tested me, I
will come forth as gold.”
—Job 23:10
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Chapter 21. Job’s reply. Job agrees that the
wicked suffer in the end — but in the meantime they
seem to be doing rather well. They grow old and
increase in power, and their homes are safe and
free from fear (vv. 7-9). The prosperity of the
wicked undermines the friends’ argument — there
seems to be no necessary connection between
suffering and wickedness! (v. 34). Suffering seems
to be a tool that Satan uses to deceive the
righteous. The wicked are already lost souls — why
would Satan waste any time on them? Their self-
centered lifestyle will likely keep them in Satan’s
camp without any extra effort on his part.
Job 22-26 THE THIRD CYCLE
OF SPEECHES
Chapter 22. Eliphaz’s third speech. He bears
down harder and harder on Job’s wickedness,
claiming especially that Job has mistreated the
poor.
Chapters 23-24. Job’s reply. He again
protests his blamelessness. “I have not departed
from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the
words of his mouth more than my daily bread”
(23:12). This shows that Job does not base his
claim to blamelessness on his own feelings, but
rather measures himself against what God Himself
has said — which makes it all the more difficult to
understand why God does not give Job some kind
of explanation.
Chapter 25. Bildad’s t hi rd speech. It is a very
short speech. They have reached a stalemate.
Neither side wants to give in, and the debate
simply fizzles. Zophar doesn’t even bother to
speak again.
Chapter 26-27. Job’s reply. Job states his
dilemma as bluntly as he can. On the one hand, “I
will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I
will not deny my integrity” (27:5). On the other
hand, “the fate God allots to the wicked” (27:13)
is annihilation — they will be no more, and all they
possess will go to others. Job’s argument and the
friends’ argument, side by side, without resolution.
Job 28 AN INTERLUDE ON
WISDOM
Chapter 28 interrupts not only the flow but also the
tone of Job’s argument. This chapter is very much
like the book of Proverbs — a discussion of the
question where wisdom may be found.
Job 29-31 JOB’S CALL FOR
VINDICATION
The tone of these chapters is different from that in
earlier chapters. Job no longer is in the heat of the
argument. He seems deflated and sounds sad rather
than angry. But he continues to call for vindication.
He contrasts his past prosperity, happiness,
honor, respect, kindness, and usefulness (chap. 29)
with his present sufferings (chap. 30). Then he
wearily asks that if he had done any of the things
his three friends accused him of, God might tell
him what it was (chap. 3 1). And with that more or
less resigned speech, Job finally runs out of things
to say — which is when he can begin to listen to
God.
Job 32-37 ELIHU’S SPEECH
Job had silenced the three friends. Elihu was angry
at them because they falsely accused Job. And he
was angry with Job because as the argument wore
on, Job increasingly was intent on justifying
himself rather than God. Now it was Elihu’s turn to
tell them a thing or two.
Elihu correctly points out that Job is coming
very close to accusing God of being unjust. Elihu
paves the way for God’s speech to Job. And in the
end, God is angry with the first three friends, but
not with Elihu.
Job 38-41 GOD SPEAKS
These are some of the most awe-inspiring chapters
in the Bible. God speaks to Job, but not with
answers to the questions Job had been hurling at
Him. Rather, God turns it around: He does the
questioning and asks Job to answer Him. God
shows and reminds Job of His power and majesty
— of who He is. And He asks Job if he is anything
compared to God’s greatness.
Job is speechless and admits that he has no
answer (40:4-5). God continues — until in the end
Job repents. Job, the man who thought he knew
God, now says, “My ears had heard of you but now
my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes” (42:5-6). Through
his suffering, Job goes from a limited
understanding of God to a life-changing experience
of the greatness, majesty, and power of God — but
also an experience of God’s love, since God gives
Job a personal answer to a very real and difficult
question. But it is an answer that comes only after
Job runs out of words, so that he can listen.
Job 42:7-17 EPILOGUE— JOB
RESTORED
After Job repents, God instructs him to pray for his
friends. After Job prays, God makes him
prosperous again and gives him twice as much as
he had before his suffering (42:10). Job had come
through his trials magnificently, and God blessed
his old age with generous rewards (42: 12-17).
Job’s obedience in praying for his friends
marks a turning point in his life. His experience
seems to call us to pray for those who cause us to
suffer.
Psalms
Israel’s Hymn Book and Prayer Book
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
— Psalm 42: 11
Authorship of the Psalms
In the titles or superscriptions of the Psalms, 73
psalms are ascribed to David, 12 to Asaph, 11 to
the sons of Korah, two to Solomon (72, 127), one
to Moses (90), and one to Ethan (89); 50 of the
psalms are anonymous.
Some of the anonymous psalms may have been
written by the author of the preceding psalm so that
one title applies to both psalms. David, no doubt,
was author of some of the anonymous psalms.
But the titles are not a certain indication of
authorship, since “of,” “to,” and “for” are the same
preposition in Hebrew. A psalm “of’ David may
have been one that he himself wrote, or it may have
been written “for” David or dedicated “to” David.
However, the titles are very ancient, and the
most natural assumption is that they indicate
authorship. Some modern critics have made a
desperate effort to read David out of the picture.
But there is every reason to accept, and no
substantial reason to question, that the book of
Psalms is largely the work of David. The New
Testament recognizes it as such.
Thus we speak of the Psalms as the psalms of
David, because he was the principal writer or
compiler. (Similarly, we refer to the book of
Proverbs as the proverbs of Solomon, even though
not all of them were written by him.) ft is generally
accepted that a few psalms were in existence
before David’s time and formed the nucleus of a
hymnal for worship. This was greatly enlarged by
David, added onto from generation to generation,
and brought to completion, it is thought, in its
present form by Ezra.
David was a warrior of great bravery, a
military genius, and a brilliant statesman who led
his nation to its pinnacle of power. He was also a
poet and a musician, and he loved God with all his
heart.
David’s creation of the Psalms was in reality a
far grander accomplishment than his creation of the
kingdom. The book of Psalms is one of the noblest
monuments of the ages and has outlasted David’s
original kingdom by more than two millennia.
In the Psalms the real character of David is
portrayed. And in the Psalms God’s people
generally see a pretty fair picture of themselves, of
their struggles, their sins, their sorrows, their
aspirations, their joys, their failures, and their
victories.
David has earned the undying gratitude of
millions upon millions of God’s redeemed people
for the Psalms.
Jesus was very fond of the Psalms. He said that
many things in the Psalms referred to Him (Luke
24:44). So thoroughly did they become a part of
Him that in His dying agonies on the cross He
quoted from them (22:1; Matthew 27:46; 31:5;
Luke 23:46).
Of the 283 quotations from the Old Testament
in the New Testament, 116 (more than 40 percent)
are from the Psalms.
Classification of the Psalms
From very ancient times, the Psalms have been
divided into five books. This division is already
found in the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint,
perhaps in imitation of the five books of the
Pentateuch. Within these five books of psalms there
are some further subgroups.
The Psalms Were Written to Be Sung
The Bible is full of singing — singing as an act of
worship, singing as an expression of gratitude,
even singing to express sorrow and lament.
At the dawn of creation “the morning stars
sang together, and all the angels of God
shouted for joy” (Job 38:7).
Moses sang and taught the people to sing
(Exodus 15; Deuteronomy 32).
Israel sang on the journey to the Promised
Land (Numbers 21:17).
Deborah and Barak sang praise to God
(Judges 5).
David sang with all his heart (Psalm 104:33).
Hezekiah’s singers sang the words of David
(2 Chronicles 29:28-30).
Two choirs sang when the walls of Jerusalem
were finished (Nehemiah 12:42).
Jesus and the disciples sang at the Last
Supper (Matthew 26:30).
Paul and Silas sang in prison (Acts 16:25).
In heaven, 10,000 times 10,000 angels sing,
and the whole redeemed creation joins in the
chorus (Revelation 5:11-13). In heaven
everybody will sing — and will never tire of
singing.
THE FIVE DIVISIONS OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS
Smaller Groups of Psalms
Notes
Book 1
Psalms 1 —4 1
[no groups]
Book II
Psalms 42-72
Psalms of Sons of Korah,
42-49
Miktam Psalms. 56—60
Miktam is probably
a musical or
literary term
Book III
Psalms 73-89
Psalms of Asaph. 73—83
Book IV
Psalms 90-106
[no groups]
Book V
Psalms 107-150
Hallel Psalms. 1 1 3- 1 1 8
Songs of Degrees. 1 20— 1 34
Psalms of Thanksgiving.
135-139
Psalms for Protection.
140-143
Hallelujah Psalms. 146-150
Hallel = praise
Pilgrim songs
Hallelujah —
praise the Lord
Liturgical and Musical Notations in the Psalms
The meaning of a number of Hebrew terms used in
the titles of the Psalms is not clear, for example,
miktam (Psalms 16, 56-60) and maskil (Psalm 32
and others). These terms are very ancient and
predate the Septuagint.
The word selah occurs 71 times in the Psalms;
it is found at intervals in some Psalms as well as at
the end. It may be a musical marker, but its
meaning is not clear.
Leading Ideas in the Psalms
Trust is the foremost idea in the book, repeated
over and over. Whatever the occasion, joyous or
terrifying, it drove David straight to God.
Whatever his weaknesses, David literally lived in
God.
Praise was always on his lips. David was
always asking God for something and always
thanking Him with his whole soul for the answers
to his prayers.
Musical Instruments
The Israelites had stringed instruments (harp
and lyre), wind instruments (flute, pipe, horn,
trumpet), and instruments to be beaten
(tambourine and cymbal). David had an
orchestra of 4000, for which he made the
instruments (1 Chronicles 23:5).
• Harp: The harp seems to have been a
vertical, angular instrument, larger in size,
louder, and lower in pitch than the lyre.
Lyre: It is generally accepted that the
lyre was a ten-stringed, rectangular
zither.
Flute: The flute, or shepherd’s pipe, was
made of reeds and was used both for
entertainment and for calming the sheep.
Pipe: The pipe (chalil) was a double-
reed instrument and is the biblical
equivalent of the modern oboe.
Horn: A horn, or shofar, was originally a
ram’s horn without a mouthpiece. It was
used chiefly as a signal instrument in both
religious and secular ceremonies.
Trumpet: Jewish historian Josephus has
described the trumpet as a straight tube,
“a little less than a cubit long,” its
mouthpiece wide and its body expanding
into a bell-like ending.
Tambourine: The tambourine was a
small drum made of a wooden hoop and
probably two skins, without any jingling
contrivance such as the modern
tambourine has.
• Cymbal: The only permanent percussive
instrument in the temple orchestra was
the cymbal. In Psalm 150 two types of
cymbals are mentioned. The larger
clashing cymbals were played with two
hands. The resounding cymbals were
much smaller and were played with one
hand — the cymbals being attached to the
thumb and the middle finger.
Rejoice is another favorite word. David’s
unceasing troubles could never dim his joy in God.
Over and over he cries, “Sing,” or “Shout for joy.”
Psalms is a book of devotion to God.
Unfailing love (K.JY mercy) occurs hundreds
of times. David often spoke of the justice,
righteousness, and anger of God, but God’s
unfailing love was what he always returned to.
Messianic Psalms
Many psalms, written 1000 years before Christ,
contain statements that are wholly inapplicable to
any person in history other than Christ. These are
called messianic psalms. (The Greek word Christ
is the same as the Hebrew Messiah .) Some
references to David seem to point forward to the
coming great King in David’s family. Besides
passages that are clearly messianic, there are many
expressions that seem to be veiled foreshadowings
of the Messiah.
The most clearly messianic psalms are
Psalm 2: The deity and universal reign of
the Messiah
Psalm 8: Through the Messiah, humanity is
to rule creation
Psalm 16: His resurrection from the dead
Psalm 22: His suffering
Psalm 45: His royal bride (the church) and
his eternal throne
Psalm 69: His suffering
Psalm 72: The glory and eternity of His
reign
Psalm 89: God’s oath that Messiah’s throne
will be without end
Psalm 110: Eternal King and Priest
Psalm 118: His rejection by His nation’s
leaders
Psalm 132: Eternal heir to David’s throne
Statements in the Psalms
that in the New Testament
are explicitly said to refer to
Christ
• “You are my Son; today I have become
your Father” (2:7; Acts 13:33).
• “You put everything under his feet” (8:6;
Hebrews 2:6-10).
• “Because you will not abandon me to the
grave, nor will you let your Holy One see
decay” (16:10; Acts 2:27).
• “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?” (22:1; Matthew 27:46).
• “He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue
him” (22:8; Matthew 27:43).
• “They have pierced my hands and my
feet” (22:16; John 20:25).
• “They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing” (22:18;
John 19:24).
• “Here I am, I have come ... to do your
will, O my God” (40:7-8; Hebrews 10:7).
• “Even my close friend, whom I trusted,
he who shared my bread, has lifted up
his heel against me” (41:9; John 13:18).
• “Your throne, O God, will last for ever
and ever” (45:6; Hebrews 1:8).
• “Zeal for your house consumes me”
(69:9; John 2:17).
• “They put gall in my food and gave me
vinegar for my thirst” (69:21; Matthew
27:34, 48).
• “May another take his place of
leadership” (109:8; Acts 1:20).
• “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my
right hand until I make your enemies a
footstool for your feet’ ” (110:1; Matthew
22:44).
• “The Lord has sworn and will not change
his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the
order of Melchizedek’ ” (110:4; Hebrews
7:17).
• “The stone the builders rejected has
become the capstone” (118:22; Matthew
21:42).
• “Blessed is he who comes in the name of
the Lord” (118:26; Matthew 21:9).
See further under 2 Samuel 7 and Matthew
2 : 22 .
i i
Book I: Psalms 1 to 41
Ps. 1 DELIGHT IN GOD’S WORD
The book of Psalms opens with an exaltation of
God’s Word. If David so loved the few writings
that then constituted God’s Word, how much more
should we love that same Word, which has now
been brought to completion. (Other psalms of the
Word are Psalm 19 and Psalm 119.)
Blessed are those who derive their
understanding of life from God’s Word rather than
from their worldly neighbors. Happiness and
prosperity are theirs; not so the wicked. Over and
over the godly and the wicked are contrasted.
Note, too, that the book of Psalms begins with
a blessing or beatitude, like the Sermon on the
Mount (Matthew 5:3-12). Its first word is
“Blessed.”
Some of David’s “Beatitudes” in the Psalms:
• “Blessed is the man . . . [whose] delight is in
the law of the Lord” ( 1 : 1-2).
• “Blessed are all who take refuge in him”
( 2 : 12 ).
“Blessed is he whose transgressions are
forgiven” (32:1).
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the
Lord” (33:12).
“Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him”
(34:8).
“Blessed is he who has regard for the weak”
(41:1).
“Blessed are those who dwell in your house”
(84:4).
“Blessed are those whose strength is in you”
(84:5).
“Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord”
(94:12).
“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord”
( 112 : 1 ).
“Blessed are they who keep his statutes and
seek him with all their heart” (119:2).
Ps. 2 A HYMN OF THE COMING
MESSIAH
This is the first of the messianic psalms (see
Messianic Psalms in the chapter Psalms). It speaks
of His deity (v. 7) and His universal reign (v. 8).
Ps. 3 DAVID’S TRUST IN GOD
Written at the time of Absalom’s rebellion (2
Samuel 15). A most remarkable example of
peaceful trust at a very trying time. David could
sleep because “the Lord sustains me.”
Ps. 4 AN EVENING PRAYER
Another hymn of trust, as David prepared to sleep,
so to speak, at the bosom of God. It speaks of trust
in God (v. 5), gladness of heart (v. 7), peace of
mind (v. 8), communion with God in our bedtime
meditations (v. 4), confidence that God is watching
(v. 8).
Ps. 5 A MORNING PRAYER
Beset by treacherous enemies, David prays and
shouts for joy, confident that God will protect him.
David must have had many enemies. He refers to
them again and again. Many of the most
magnificent psalms came out of David’s troubles.
Ps. 6 THE CRY OF A BROKEN
HEART
In time of sickness, bitter grief, tears, humiliation,
shame, and reproach by enemies, perhaps on
account of David’s sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel
11). This is the first of the penitential psalms (see
on Psalm 32).
Ps. 7 ANOTHER PRAYER FOR
PROTECTION
In grave danger, David protests his own
righteousness (see on Psalm 32). Cush, in the title,
possibly may have been one of Saul’s officers in
pursuit of David (see on Psalm 54).
Ps. 8 MAN THE CROWN OF
CREATION
Worldwide praise will be brought about under the
Messiah, in the day of His triumphant reign
(Hebrews 2:6-9). Jesus quoted verse 2 as
referring to an incident in His own life (Matthew
21:16).
Ps. 9 THANKS FOR VICTORIES
Victories over enemies, national and individual.
God sits as King forever. Let the nations realize
that they are only human, only creatures. Praise and
trust God.
This psalm, together with Psalm 10, forms an
acrostic: the initial letters of successive verses
follow the order of the Hebrew alphabet. It may
have been used as an aid to memory. Other acrostic
psalms are Psalms 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145.
Ps. 10 DAVID’S PRAYER FOR
HELP
Prayer for help in the face of wickedness,
oppression, and robbery, apparently within his
own realm. Wickedness troubled David greatly,
especially defiance of God. To David, as to other
Bible writers, there are just two kinds of people:
the righteous and the wicked — though many try to
be both.
Pss. 11-13 PREVALENCE OF
WICKEDNESS
The wicked walk on every side. David is
overwhelmed by his wicked enemies, almost to the
point of death. But he nevertheless trusts in God
and sings for joy. Psalms such as these seem to
belong to the period when David was hiding from
Saul (1 Samuel 18-26).
Ps. 14 UNIVERSAL SINFULNESS
This psalm is almost the same as Psalm 53. It is
quoted in Romans 3:10-12. Unbelievers are here
called fools: widespread wickedness shows what
fools people are. For as sure as there is a God,
there will be a day of reckoning, a day of judgment
for the wicked. But living among the wicked are
God’s people, for whom Judgment Day will be a
day of joy.
Ps. 15 TRUE CITIZENS OF ZION
The true citizens of Zion are righteous, truthful,
just, and honest. Thomas Jefferson called this
psalm “the picture of a true gentleman.”
Ps. 16 RESURRECTION OF THE
MESSIAH
David appears to be speaking of himself, yet
words about the coming Davidic King find their
way into David’s mouth (v. 10) and are quoted in
the New Testament as a prediction of Jesus’
resurrection (Acts 2:27). Verses 8 and 11 are
especially magnificent.
Ps. 17 A PRAYER FOR
PROTECTION
Overwhelmed by enemies, David looks to God. He
proclaims his own innocence and trusts in God.
Surrounded by people who love this world, David
set his heart on the world beyond (vv. 14-15).
Ps. 18 DAVID’S HYMN OF
THANKSGIVING
David wrote this psalm after years of running from
Saul, when he had become king and had the
kingdom firmly established. He attributed it all to
God, his Strength, Rock, Fortress, Deliverer,
Support, Refuge, Shield, Horn, Stronghold. One of
the best psalms.
Head of nations (vv. 43-45) was only
partially true of David; it looked forward beyond
the time of David to the throne of David’s greater
descendent, Christ, the Messiah. This psalm is
repeated in 2 Samuel 22.
Ps. 19 NATURE AND THE WORD
The wonder and glory of creation, and the
perfection and power of God’s Word. The God of
nature is made known to humanity through His
written Word. These thoughts about God’s Word
are greatly expanded in Psalm 119. The closing
prayer (vv. 13-14) is one of the best prayers in the
whole Bible. God’s Word is perfect, sure, true; it
gives joy and is sweeter than honey.
Ps. 20 A SONG OF TRUST
This would appear to be a battle hymn, sung while
setting up the military banners, with a prayer for
victory as David entered battle. His trust was not
in chariots and horses (v. 7), but in the Lord.
Ps. 21 THANKS FOR VICTORY
Victory after the battle which had been prayed for
in Psalm 20. It refers to David, but it seems also to
contain a messianic hint in its reference to the
eternal nature of the King’s reign (v. 4).
Ps. 22 A PSALM OF THE
CRUCIFIXION
This is a cry of anguish from David. But, though
written 1000 years before the days of Jesus, it is so
vivid a description of the crucifixion of Jesus that
one would almost think that the writer was
personally present at the cross: Jesus’ dying words
(v. 1), the sneers of His enemies (vv. 7-8), His
hands and feet pierced (v. 16), His garments
divided (v. 18). Some of these statements are not
applicable to David, nor to any known event in
history except the crucifixion of Jesus.
Ps. 23 THE SHEPHERD PSALM
One of the best-loved chapters in the Old
Testament. David may have composed this psalm
while he was yet a shepherd boy, watching his
father’s flocks on the very same field where, 1000
years later, the angel choir announced the birth of
Jesus.
Ps. 24 THE KING’S ARRIVAL IN
ZION
This psalm may have been written when the ark of
the covenant was brought to Jerusalem (2 Samuel
6:12-15). Maybe we will sing it on that great day
when the King of glory comes again.
Ps. 25 PRAYER OF A SIN-
OPPRESSED SOUL
David had periods of depression, brought on by his
sins and troubles. There are many petitions here
that we would do well to make our own. Read this
psalm often.
Ps. 26 DAVID PROTESTS HIS
INTEGRITY
This psalm is very different from the preceding
one; David speaks positively and forcefully about
his own integrity. (See on Psalm 32.)
Ps. 27 DEVOTION TO GOD’S
HOUSE
God was the strength of David’s life. David trusted
God fearlessly. He loved to sing, and to pray, and
to wait on the Lord.
Ps. 28 A PRAYER
A prayer, with thanksgiving for its being answered.
David was without hope, except for God. He
depended on Him and rejoiced in Him.
Ps. 29 THE VOICE OF GOD
The voice of God in the thunderstorm, sometimes
frightening. The image is suggestive of the
terrifying, cataclysmic events at the end of the
world.
Ps. 30 DEDICATION OF DAVID’S
PALACE
Written after David had conquered Jerusalem and
made it his capital (2 Samuel 5:11; 7:2). David
had often been near death, but God brought him
through. He would sing and praise God forever.
Ps. 31 A SONG OF TRUST
David, in constant danger, trouble, grief, or
humiliation, always implicitly trusted in God.
Jesus quoted His dying words from this psalm (v.
5; Luke 23:46).
Ps. 32 A PSALM OF PENITENCE
This psalm was occasioned, no doubt, by David’s
sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12). He can find
no words to express his shame and humiliation. Yet
this is the same David who repeatedly avowed his
righteousness (Psalms 7:3, 8; 17:1-5; 18:20-24;
26:1-14).
How can we reconcile these paradoxical
features of David’s life? (1) It is possible that the
statements about his righteousness were made
before David made this dreadful mistake. (2) In
most things David was righteous. (3) Most
important, there is a vast difference between a sin
of weakness and willful, habitual sin. A good
person may sin and yet be a good person. David’s
remorse showed that was true in his case. That is
quite different from wicked people who purposely,
willfully, and habitually flout all the laws of
decency. (See on 2 Samuel 1 1 .)
Augustine is said to have had this psalm
written on the wall in front of his bed, where it
was always in view, reading it incessantly,
weeping as he read.
Other penitential psalms are Psalms 6, 25, 38,
51, 102, 130, 143.
Ps. 33 A PSALM OF JOY AND
PRAISE
David speaks of a “new song” (v. 3; the same
words are found in Psalm 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9).
There are old songs that will never grow old; but
to God’s people, as they travel along life’s road,
there are again and again new deliverances and
new joys that put new meaning into old songs, all
of which will be taken up into the great new
outbursts of joy at the dawn of heaven’s glories
(Revelation 5:9; 14:3).
Ps. 34 DAVID’S THANKS FOR
DELIVERANCE
In every trouble David went straight to God in
prayer, and after every deliverance he went
instantly to God in thanks and praise. What a
glorious thing to thus live in God. How that must
please God. Someone has said, “Thank God for the
starlight, and He will give you the moonlight; thank
Him for the moonlight, and He will give you the
sunlight; thank Him for the sunlight, and by and by
He will take you where He Himself is the Light.”
Ps. 35 A CURSING PSALM
In this psalm David calls on God to act, to help
him against his enemies. But God is silent and
seems far away (vv. 22-23). What makes it even
more difficult for David is that those who seek to
kill him are his enemies without cause: they hate
him without reason (v. 19). This was not an
isolated experience (see Psalms 38:19; 69:4;
109:3; 119:78, 86, 161; and Lamentations 3:52).
Jesus applied the same thought to Himself in John
15:25: “But this is to fulfill what is written in their
Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ ”
Pss. 36-37 TRUST IN GOD
Psalm 36. The wickedness of people contrasted
with the mercy and faithfulness of God.
Psalm 37. This is one of the best-loved
psalms. David, always puzzled by the fact that
wickedness seems to prevail, here states his
philosophy as to how to live among wicked
people: do good, trust God, don’t worry.
Ps. 38 A PSALM OF BITTER
ANGUISH
This is one of the penitential psalms (see on Psalm
32). It seems that David was suffering from a
loathsome disease, caused by his sin, which led
even his closest friends and nearest relatives to
stay away from him. His enemies, by contrast, had
multiplied and become very bold. It shows how the
“man after God’s own heart” sometimes went to
the depths in sorrow and humiliation for his sin.
Ps. 39 THE FRAILTY AND
VANITY OF LIFE
Jeduthun (also mentioned in the titles of Psalms 62
and 77) was one of David’s three music leaders;
the other two were Asaph and Heman (1
Chronicles 16:37-42). He was also the king’s seer,
according to 2 Chronicles 35:15.
Ps. 40 PRAISE FOR A GREAT
DELIVERANCE
The Law of God was in his heart (v. 8), yet David
was utterly crushed by his sins (v. 12). The last
part of this psalm is the same as Psalm 70. This
psalm would seem to contain a messianic
reference (vv. 7-8; see Hebrews 10:5-7).
Ps. 41 A PRAYER FOR
DELIVERANCE
This psalm is thought to belong to the time when
David’s son Absalom tried to usurp the throne (2
Samuel 15) at a time when David’s sickness (vv.
3-8) created an opportunity for the plot to mature.
The close friend (v. 9) must have been Ahithophel,
the Old Testament Judas (2 Samuel 15:12; John
13:18).
i l
The Psalms of Vengeance
There are seven psalms in which the psalmist
hurls God’s curses on his enemies, in no
uncertain terms (Psalms 6; 35; 59; 69; 83;
109; 137). For example,
May his days be few;. . .
May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.
May his children be wandering beggars;
may they be driven from their ruined
homes.
May a creditor seize all he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his
labor.
May no one extend kindness to him
or take pity on his fatherless children.
May his descendants be cut off,
their names blotted out from the next
generation.
May the iniquity of his fathers be
remembered before the Lord;
may the sin of his mother never be
blotted out.
— Psalm 109:8-14
These psalms are also called the imprecatory
psalms because the psalmist showers
imprecations (curses) on his enemies.
Fourteen other psalms include an imprecatory
prayer (for example, 3:7; 5:10; 7:14-16). The
expression of hatred and the desire for
vindication are also found in the prayers of
Jeremiah (11:18-20; 15:15-18; 17:18; 18:19-
23; 20:11-12) and Nehemiah (6:14; 13:29).
What are we to do with these psalms that
seem to squarely contradict Jesus’ command
to love our enemies (Luke 6:27-28)? Some
people simply write them off. They feel that
the Old Testament preaches law and
vengeance, whereas the New Testament
teaches love for God and neighbor. Therefore
these psalms have no place in the Christian
life.
But they forget that Jesus took the two great
commandments (“Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and . . . soul and . . .
mind . . . and . . . your neighbor as yourself,”
Matthew 22:37-39) directly from the Old
Testament (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus
19:18). And His command to love our enemies
is also found in the Old Testament:
“Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when he stumbles, do not let your heart
rejoice. ... If your enemy is hungry, give
him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him
water to drink” (Proverbs 24:17; 25:21).
And “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth” (Exodus 21:24) is not, as is often
assumed, a legalization of vengeance. Rather,
it limits those who have been wronged to the
recovery of actual damages rather than
punitive damages. It is a humane law,
designed to prevent an ever-escalating spiral
of revenge.
The Old Testament already contains the key
teachings of Jesus — and the New Testament
clearly does not teach only “sweetness and
light.” Jesus condemned Korazin and
Capernaum (Matthew 11:21-24) and severely
criticized the leaders and the unbelief of the
Jews (Matthew 7:23 [compare with Psalm
6:8]; Mark 11:14; 12:9). The apostles also
had very strong words for heretics and
evildoers (1 Corinthians 5:5; Galatians 1:8-9;
5:12; 2 Timothy 4:14 [compare with Psalm
62:12]; 2 Peter 2; 2 John 7-11; Jude 3-16).
The fact is that in both the Old and the New
Testament we find the requirement to love as
well as the requirement to hate evil.
What bothers us about the imprecatory
psalms is their concreteness. “God hates sin
but loves the sinner” was as true in the Old
Testament as it is now. But in the Old
Testament, sin and evil are not viewed as
abstractions; rather, they exist in their
concrete manifestations — real actions by real
people.
In the Old Testament, God’s people, the
nation of Israel, is a concrete reality. The
nation lives in a specific place, the Promised
Land. The temple is an actual place where
God is present. And above all, the God of
Israel is known through His concrete acts in
history, foremost among them the Exodus
from Egypt. And just as God’s presence is
known through His concrete acts in history, so
evil is known through its concrete
manifestations.
In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask, “Deliver us from
the evil one” (or, “from evil”). The psalmists
make the same request, but in more concrete
form: deliver us from evil by delivering us from
the evil ones. In the New Testament, evil and
sin oppose the coming of God’s kingdom. In
the Old Testament, evil and sin oppose the
kingdom of God’s people, Israel. But in both
cases, sin and evil are an assault on God
Himself by opposing that which is dearest to
His heart.
The imprecatory psalms are a constant
reminder that evil is not an abstraction but a
stark, everyday reality. They remind us that
God hates evil, not in the abstract, but in
people’s actions or failure to act — whether
these are actions of unbelievers or of God’s
own people. (Note how often the psalmists
cry out for forgiveness for their own sins!)
Book II: Psalms 42 to 72
Pss. 42-43 THIRST FOR THE
HOUSE OF GOD
These two psalms form one poem, describing the
desire for God’s house on the part of someone in
exile in the Hermon region, east of the Jordan
(42:6), among ungodly and hostile people.
The Sons of Korah, mentioned in the titles of
Psalms 42-49, 84, 85, 87, and 88, were a family of
Levites, organized by David into a musical guild
(1 Chronicles 6:31-48; 9:19, 22, 33).
Ps. 44 A CRY OF DESPAIR
A cry of despair in a time of national disaster,
when their army, it seems, had been
overwhelmingly defeated.
Ps. 45 WEDDING SONG OF A
KING
The psalmist shifts from speaking to the king to
addressing God, who sits on an eternal throne.
This psalm may, in part, have reference to David
or Solomon. But some of its statements are wholly
inapplicable to either, or to any other human
sovereign. It surely seems to be a song of the
Messiah, anticipating the marriage of the Lamb
(Revelation 19:7).
Ps. 46 ZION’S BATTLE SONG
This psalm is the basis for Luther’s famous hymn
“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” the song of the
Reformation.
Pss. 47-48 GOD REIGNS
God is King. Zion is the city of God. This God is
our God forever. God is on the throne — let the
earth rejoice!
Pss. 49-50 THE VANITY OF
RICHES
God is the owner of the earth and everything in and
on it. In giving to God we merely return that which
is His own. These psalms, which speak of the
vanity of life, since death comes to all, are similar
to Psalm 39.
Ps. 51 PRAYER FOR MERCY
A penitential psalm (see on Psalm 32), written in
the aftermath of David’s sin with Bathsheba (2
Samuel 11-12). “Create in me a pure heart” (v. 10)
is a prayer we all would do well to pray
constantly.
Ps. 52 DAVID’S TRUST IN GOD
David’s trust in God is contrasted with the wicked
boastfulness of his enemy Doeg (1 Samuel 21:7;
22:9). David is co nf ident that he will be delivered.
Ps. 53 UNIVERSAL SINFULNESS
OF MEN
This psalm is similar to Psalm 14. It is quoted in
Romans 3:10-12. The meaning of the terms
mahalath and maskil in the title is not known,
although they are most likely musical or literary
terms.
Ps. 54 DAVID’S CRY TO GOD
Written when the Ziphites told Saul where David
was hiding (1 Samuel 26). Other psalms composed
while David was on the run from Saul are Psalm
1 ( 1 ), 34, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 63(7), and 142.
Ps. 55 BETRAYED BY FRIENDS
Like Psalm 4 1 , this seems to belong to the time of
Absalom’s rebellion and to refer specifically to
Ahithophel (vv. 12-14; 2 Samuel 15:12-13). It is a
preview of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. David
trusts in God.
Ps. 56 PRAYER FOR
DELIVERANCE
Like Psalm 34, a prayer for deliverance from the
Philistines (1 Samuel 21:10-15). David used his
own resources to the limit, even faking insanity.
Yet he prayed and trusted in God for the result.
Psalm 34 is his song of thanks for his escape.
Ps. 57 DAVID’S PRAYER
David’s prayer in the cave of Adullam, while
hiding from Saul (1 Samuel 22:1; 24:1; 26:1). His
heart was fixed on trusting God (v. 7).
Ps. 58 DESTRUCTION OF THE
WICKED
The day of retribution is sure. David complained
much about the prevalence of wickedness. And he
repeated over and over that evil does not pay — in
the long run. It is still so.
Ps. 59 ANOTHER OF DAVID’S
PRAYERS
David’s prayer when Saul sent soldiers to entrap
David at home (1 Samuel 19:10-17). But again
David trusted in God. Another golden poem.
Ps. 60 A PSALM OF
DISCOURAGEMENT
Written at a time when the war with the Syrians
and Edomites (2 Samuel 8:3-14) was not going
well. Other psalms in time of national reverses are
Psalm 44, 74, 79, and 108. David’s prayer was
answered (2 Samuel 8: 14).
Ps. 61 A HYMN OF
CONFIDENCE
Prayed while David apparently was away from
home on some distant expedition (v. 2), or possibly
at the time of Absalom’s rebellion.
Ps. 62 A POEM OF
IMPASSIONED DEVOTION
Devotion to God and unwavering trust in Him.
David had a lot of trouble but never failed to trust
in God.
Ps. 63 A HYMN OF THE
WILDERNESS
David’s thirst for God. It seems to belong to the
period when David was in the wilderness of
Engedi ( 1 Samuel 24), fleeing from Absalom, but
confident of restoration.
Ps. 64 PRAYER FOR
PROTECTION
Prayer for protection from plots of secret enemies.
David is confident that through God he will
triumph.
Ps. 65 A SONG OF THE SEA
AND THE HARVEST
God crowns the year with goodness. The earth
shouts for joy with its abundant crops.
Ps. 66 A SONG OF NATIONAL
THANKSGIVING
Praise God, fear God, sing, rejoice — God keeps
His eye on the nations.
Ps. 67 A MISSIONARY PSALM
In anticipation of the Good News of the Gospel
encircling the earth. Let the nations sing for joy!
Ps. 68 A BATTLE MARCH
The battle march of God’s victorious armies. This
psalm has been the favorite of many in times of
persecution.
Ps. 69 A PSALM OF SUFFERING
Like Psalm 22, this psalm provides glimpses of the
suffering Messiah, ft is quoted in the New
Testament (vv. 4, 9, 21-22, 25; John 2:17; 15:25;
19:28-30; Acts 1:20; Romans 11:9; 15:3).
Ps. 70 AN URGENT CRY FOR
HELP
God never failed David. The believer’s joy in God
in a time of persecution. About the same as the
latter part of Psalm 40.
Ps. 71 A PSALM OF OLD AGE
A retrospective on a life of trust, beset by troubles
and enemies all the way, but with his joy in God
undimmed.
Ps. 72 THE GLORY AND
GRANDEUR OF MESSIAH’S
REIGN
This is one of Solomon’s psalms (the other one is
Psalm 127). Solomon’s kingdom was at the
pinnacle of its glory. We may think that this psalm
was, in part, a description of his own peaceful and
glorious reign. But some of its statements, and its
general tenor, can allude only to the kingdom of
One greater than Solomon. (See further Poetic
Books fJob-Song of Songs') in the chapter The
Messiah in the Old Testament: Foreshadowings
and Predictions of the Coming Messiah.)
Book III: Psalms 73 to 89
Ps. 73 PROSPERITY OF THE
WICKED
The solution to the problem of the prosperity of
wicked people is this: consider their final end.
This is one of Asaph’s psalms (the others are 50,
74-83). Asaph was David’s song leader (1
Chronicles 15:16-20; 16:5). Hezekiah’s choirs
sang Asaph’s psalms (2 Chronicles 29:30).
Ps. 74 NATIONAL DISASTER
Jerusalem was in ruins (vv. 3, 6-7). This psalm
may refer either to the time of Shishak’s invasion
( 1 Kings 14:25) or to the Babylonian captivity.
Ps. 75 GOD IS JUDGE
The certain destruction of the wicked and the
certain triumph of the righteous on the day when
the earth shall be dissolved.
Ps. 76 THANKS FOR A GREAT
VICTORY
This psalm seems to refer to the destruction of
Sennacherib’s army by the Angel of God at
Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:35).
Pss. 77-78 HISTORICAL
PSALMS
A review of God’s marvelous works in His
dealings with Israel. The contrast between God’s
mighty works and Israel’s habitual unfaithfulness
and disobedience.
Pss. 79-80 NATIONAL
DISASTER
Like Psalm 74, these psalms belong to a time of
great disaster, such as the invasion of Shishak (1
Kings 4:25), or the fall of the northern kingdom, or
the Babylonian captivity.
Pss. 81-82 ISRAEL’S
WAYWARDNESS
The cause of Israel’s troubles lies in their turning
their back on God. If they had only listened to God,
things would have been different. Unjust judges
must share in the blame, since they have forgotten
their responsibility to the supreme Judge.
Ps. 83 A PRAYER FOR
PROTECTION
Prayer for protection from a conspiracy of
federated nations: Edomites, Arabians, Moabites,
Ammonites, Amalekites, Philistines, and others.
Ps. 84 GOD’S HOUSE
The blessedness of devotion to God’s house.
“Better is one day in your courts [the temple
courts] than a thousand elsewhere” (v. 10).
Nearness to God is what matters — also for the
church.
Pss. 85-86 THANKSGIVING AND
A CRY FOR MERCY
Thanksgiving for return from captivity, and a
prayer for the restoration of the land and for a
better future, ft is also a prayer for mercy: even
though the psalmist is godly, yet he is in need of
forgiveness.
Ps. 87 ZION
God’s love for Zion. What is said here of Zion
more truly applies to the church. Our birth in Zion
(our birth into God’s people) is recorded in heaven
(v. 6).
Ps. 88 A LIFELONG SUFFERER
Prayer of a shut-in suffering from a prolonged and
terrible disease. One of the saddest of the psalms.
Ps. 89 GOD’S OATH
God’s solemn promise that David’s throne will be
forever. A magnificent psalm. Ethan, in the title,
was one of David’s song leaders (1 Chronicles
15:17).
Book IV: Psalms 90 to 106
Ps. 90 THE ETERNITY OF GOD
The eternity of God and the shortness of human
life. Since this is a psalm of Moses, who lived 400
years before David, it may have been the first
psalm to be written. Moses wrote other songs
(Exodus 15; Deuteronomy 32). Rabbinic tradition
assigns the 10 psalms that follow, 91-100, also to
Moses.
Ps. 91 A HYMN OF TRUST
One of the best-loved psalms. Magnificent!
Amazing promises of security to those who trust
God. Read it often.
Ps. 92 A SABBATH HYMN OF
PRAISE
This hymn seems to look back to the Sabbath (the
seventh day) of Creation, and forward to the age of
the eternal Sabbath. The wicked will perish, the
godly flourish.
Pss. 93-94 THE MAJESTY OF
GOD
God’s majesty and the destruction of the wicked.
The power, holiness, and eternity of God’s throne.
From everlasting, God reigns forevermore.
Wickedness is prevalent in this world, but in the
end, God’s justice prevails: the doom of the
wicked is certain. This is one of the most frequent
themes of Scripture.
Pss. 95-97 THE REIGN OF GOD
Continuing the idea of Psalm 93, these are called
“theocratic psalms” because they relate to the
sovereignty and rule of God (theocracy = “rule by
God”; compare democracy, “rule by the people”),
with hints of the kingly reign of the corning
Messiah.
Psalm 95. Sing! Rejoice! God is King; let us
kneel before Him. We are His people; let us listen
to His voice. Verses 7-11 are quoted in Hebrews
3:7-11 as words of the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 96. Sing! Be joyful. Be thankful. Praise
God. It will be a day of triumph for God’s people
when He comes to judge the world. Let the
heavens be glad and the earth rejoice. The Day of
Judgment is on the way.
Psalm 97. The Lord comes. The earth is
moved. A coronation anthem that refers, possibly,
to both the first and the second comings of Christ.
Ps. 98 A SONG OF JUBILANT
JOY
Since this is a new song (v. 1), it may be one of
those sung in heaven (Revelation 5:9-14). (See
also under Psalm 33.)
Pss. 99-100 GOD REIGNS—
WORSHIP HIM
Psalm 99. God reigns. God is holy, let the nations
tremble. God loves justice and righteousness. He
answers prayer.
Psalm 100. Praise God. His love endures
forever, and His faithfulness through all
generations.
Ps. 101 A PSALM FOR RULERS
This may have been written when David ascended
the throne. It states the principles on which he
would base his reign.
Ps. 102 A PRAYER OF
PENITENCE
Written in a time of terrible affliction, humiliation,
and reproach (see on Psalm 32). The eternity of
God (vv. 25-27) is quoted in Hebrews 1:10-12 as
applying to Christ.
Ps. 103 A PSALM OF GOD’S
MERCY
Thought to have been written in David’s old age,
this psalm summarizes God’s dealings with him.
One of the best-loved psalms.
Ps. 104 A NATURE PSALM
God the Creator and caretaker of all the world.
This psalm reminds us of Jesus’ words, “Are not
two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of
them will fall to the ground apart from the will of
your Father” (Matthew 10:29).
i l
Pss. 105-106 TWO HISTORICAL
PSALMS
A poetic summary of Israel’s history that focuses
especially on their miraculous delivery out of
Egypt.
Book V: Psalms 107 to 150
Pss. 107-109 GOD’S UNFAILING
LOVE AND JUSTICE
Psalm 107. The wonders of God’s love in His
dealings with His people and in His management
of the works of nature.
Psalm 108. This seems to be one of David’s
battle songs. It is almost identical with parts of
Psalms 57 and 60.
Psalm 109. Vengeance on God’s adversaries.
One of the cursing psalms (see on Psalm 35). In the
New Testament, verse 8 is applied to Judas, who
betrayed Jesus.
Ps. 110 THE ETERNAL REIGN
OF THE COMING KING
This psalm cannot refer to any person in history
except Christ; yet it was written 1000 years before
Christ (vv. 1,4). Quoted in the New Testament as
referring to Christ (Matthew 22:44; Acts 2:34;
Hebrews 1:13; 5:6).
Pss. 111-112 SONGS OF PRAISE
Psalm 111. The majesty, honor, righteousness,
unfailing love, justice, faithfulness, truth, holiness,
and eternity of God.
Psalm 112. The blessedness of those who fear
God and are righteous, merciful, gracious, and kind
to the poor, who love the ways and Word of God,
and whose heart is fixed on God. Everlasting
blessedness is theirs.
Pss. 113-118 THE HALLEL
PSALMS
“Hallel” means praise. The Hallel psalms were
sung in families on the night of the Passover:
Psalms 113 and 114 at the beginning of the meal,
Psalms 115-118 at the close of the meal. They
must have been the hymns that Jesus and His
disciples sang at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30).
Psalm 113. A song of praise. Begins and ends
with “Hallelujah,” which means “praise God.”
Psalm 114. A song of the Exodus, recalling the
wonders and miracles of Israel’s deliverance out
of Egypt and the beginning of the Passover feast.
The earth, sea, rivers, mountains, and hills
trembled at God’s presence.
Psalm 115. The Lord is the only God. Blessed
are His people, they who trust in Him and not in
the gods of the nations. Idols are no smarter than
they who make them. Our God is God — where are
the gods of the nations? Our God will bless us, and
we will bless His name forevermore.
Psalm 116. A song of gratitude to God for
deliverance from death and temptation, and for
repeated answers to prayer. One of the best
psalms.
Psalm 117. A summons to the nations to accept
the Lord. Quoted as such in Romans 15:11. This is
the middle chapter in the Bible — and the shortest.
Yet it contains the essence of the Psalms.
Psalm 118. This was the farewell hymn Jesus
sang with His disciples as He left the Passover on
His way to Gethsemane and Calvary (Matthew
26:30). It embodied a prediction of His rejection
(vv. 22, 26; Matthew 21:9, 42).
Ps. 119 THE GLORIES OF GOD’S
WORD
With 176 verses, this is the longest chapter in the
Bible. Every verse mentions the Word of God
under one or another of these names: law, statutes,
righteous laws, decrees, commands, precepts,
word, ways (Kjy also testimony, ordinances),
except vv. 90, 121, 122, 132.
It is an acrostic, or alphabetic, psalm. Its has
22 stanzas, each beginning with a letter of the
Hebrew alphabet, in sequence. What is more, each
stanza has eight lines, and each of the eight lines in
a stanza begins with the same letter (see on Psalm
9).
Pss. 120-134 SONGS OF
ASCENTS
Also called songs of degrees, or pilgrim songs.
Believed to have been designed to be sung a
capella by pilgrims traveling up to the religious
feasts at Jerusalem. The roads that led to Jerusalem
from all directions went literally uphill (see
Topography in the chapter The Setting of the
Bible), hence “going up to Jerusalem” and songs of
“ascent.” Or they may have been sung going up the
15 steps to the men’s court in the temple.
Psalm 120. A prayer for protection by one who
lived among deceitful and treacherous people, far
away from Zion.
Psalm 121. Pilgrims may have sung this hymn
as they first caught sight of the mountains
surrounding Jerusalem
Psalm 122. This may have been what the
pilgrims sang as they neared the temple gate within
the city walls.
Psalm 123. And this may have been sung
inside the temple courts as the pilgrims lifted their
eyes to God in prayer for His mercy.
Psalm 124. A hymn of thanksgiving and praise
for repeated national deliverance in times of
fearful danger.
Psalm 125. A hymn of trust. As the mountains
are round about Jerusalem, so God is round about
His people.
Psalm 126. A song of thanksgiving for return
from captivity. The people felt as if they were
dreaming. (See Psalm 137.)
Psalm 127. This seems like a combination of
two poems, one about temple building, the other
about family building. This is one of Solomon’s
two psalms (the other is Psalm 72).
Psalm 128. A wedding song. A continuation of
the second half of Psalm 127. Godly families are
the basis of national prosperity.
Psalm 129. Israel’s prayer for the overthrow of
her enemies, who, generation after generation, had
harassed her.
Psalm 130. Keeping our eyes on God. A cry
for mercy. This is one of the penitential psalms.
(See on Psalm 32.)
Psalm 131. A psalm of humble, childlike trust
in God. The psalmist’s soul is stilled and quieted,
as a child with his mother.
Psalm 132. A poetic restatement of God’s
unbreakable promise to David of an eternal
dynasty.
Psalms 133-134. A psalm of brotherly love
and of life forevermore, and a psalm about those
Levites who “work the night shift” in the temple.
The snow-capped peak of Mount Hermon. Moisture in any
form is a blessing in a dry climate: “It is as if the dew of
Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord
bestows his blessing, even life forevermore” (Psalm 133:3).
Pss. 135-139 PSALMS OF
THANKSGIVING
Psalm 135. A song of praise for God’s wonderful
works in nature and in history.
Psalm 136. This seems to be an expansion of
Psalm 135, about God’s mighty works of creation
and His dealings with Israel, arranged for
antiphonal singing. “His love endures forever”
occurs in every verse. It is called a Hallel (praise)
psalm, was sung at the opening of the Passover,
and was a favorite temple song (1 Chronicles
16:41; 2 Chronicles 7:3; 20:21; Ezra 3:11).
Psalm 137. A psalm of the captivity, sung by
exiles in a foreign land longing for home. They
expect sure retribution for those who took them
captive. This is not a psalm of thanksgiving, but its
counterpart, Psalm 126, written after they got back
from Babylon, is full of gratitude.
Psalm 138. A song of thanksgiving, apparently
on the occasion of some notable answer to prayer.
Psalm 139. God’s universal presence and
infinite knowledge. He knows our every thought,
word, and act — nothing is hidden from Him. The
closing sentence is one of the most needed prayers
in the whole Bible.
I I
Pss. 140-143 PRAYERS FOR
PROTECTION
Psalm 140. David had many enemies — who drove
him ever closer to God. The ultimate destruction of
the wicked.
Psalm 141. Another one of David’s prayers for
protection against being driven to sin.
Psalm 142. One of David’s prayers in early
life, while hiding in a cave from Saul (1 Samuel
22:1; 24:3).
Psalm 143. David’s penitent cry for help and
guidance, possibly when he was being pursued by
Absalom (2 Samuel 17, 18).
Pss. 144-145 SONGS OF
PRAISE
Psalm 144. One of David’s battle songs. His army
may have chanted hymns such as this as they
moved into battle.
Psalm 145. David may have had his army sing
a hymn such as this after a battle, in gratitude for
victory.
Pss. 146-150 HALLELUJAH
PSALMS
These last five psalms are called Hallelujah
psalms, since each begins and ends with
“Hallelujah,” which means “praise the Lord.” The
word also appears often in other psalms.
The grand outburst of Hallelujahs with which
the book of Psalms comes to a climactic close is
carried over to the end of the Bible itself and is
echoed in the heavenly choirs of the redeemed
(Revelation 19:1, 3-4, 6).
Psalm 146. God reigns. As long as I live I will
praise God.
Psalm 147. Let all creation praise God. Sing
unto God with thanksgiving. Let Israel and Zion
praise God.
Psalm 148. Let the angels praise God. Let the
sun, moon, and stars praise God. Let the heavens
shout, “Hallelujah!”
Psalm 149. Let the saints praise God. Let them
sing for joy. Let Zion rejoice. Hallelujah!
Psalm 150. Hallelujah! Praise God with
trumpet and harp. Let everything that has breath
praise God. Hallelujah!
Proverbs
Wise Sayings about the Practical Affairs of
Everyday Life
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
— Proverbs 3:5-7
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning oj
wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is
understanding. ”
Proverbs 9:10
Like the book of Psalms and the Pentateuch, this
book is divided into five parts: the way of
Wisdom, by Solomon (chaps. 1-9); the main
collection of the proverbs of Solomon (chaps. 10-
24); Hezekiah’s collection of Solomon’s proverbs
(chaps. 25-29); the words of Agur (chap. 30); the
words of King Lemuel (chap. 31).
Thus, most of the proverbs are ascribed to
Solomon. Solomon appears to be to the book of
Proverbs what David is to the book of Psalms: the
main author. The difference is that Psalms is a
book of devotion, while Proverbs is a book of
practical ethics.
Solomon
As a young man, Solomon had a consuming passion
for knowledge and wisdom (1 Kings 3:9-12). He
became the literary prodigy of the world of his
day. His intellectual attainments were the wonder
of the age. Kings came from the ends of the earth to
hear him. He lectured on botany and zoology. He
was a scientist, a political ruler, a businessman
with vast enterprises, a poet, moralist, and
preacher. (See on 1 Kings 4 and 9.)
What Is a Proverb?
A proverb is a brief, popular statement that
expresses a general truth (“A stitch in time saves
nine”). Most of the book consists of unconnected
proverbs. But the Hebrew word for “proverb” can
also include longer, connected exhortations, such
as chapter 2. Most of the proverbs in the book of
Proverbs express a contrast (“Many are the plans
in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that
prevails,” 19:21) or a statement with an
elaboration or consequence (“Listen to advice and
accept instruction, and in the end you will be
wise,” 19:20). Many proverbs use figurative
language (“Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones,” 16:24).
Proverbs are designed primarily for teaching,
especially the young — compact, practical
statements that stick in the mind. They cover a
wide range of subjects: wisdom, righteousness,
fear of God, knowledge, morality, chastity,
diligence, self-control, trust in God, proper use of
riches, consideration for the poor, control of the
tongue, kindness toward enemies, choice of
companions, training of children, honesty, idleness,
laziness, justice, helpfulness, cheerfulness,
common sense, and more.
Proverbs and Experience
This book aims to inculcate virtues that the Bible
insists on throughout. Over and over and over, in
all the Bible, God has supplied us with a great
abundance of instruction as to how He wants us to
live, so that there can be no excuse for our missing
the mark.
The teachings of this book of Proverbs are not
expressed with the words “This is what the Lord
says,” as in the Law of Moses, where the same
things are taught as a direct command of God.
Rather, they are given as coming out of the
experience of a man who tried out and tested just
about everything that people are involved in.
Moses had said, “These things are the
commandments of God.” Solomon here says,
“Experience shows that God has commanded us
those things that are best for us — the essence of
human wisdom lies in keeping God’s
commandments.” Proverbs are like an owner’s
manual for life. An owner’s manual explains what
needs to be done to avoid serious problems, but it
does not guarantee that nothing will ever go wrong.
God, in the long record of His revelation of
Himself and His will, resorted, it seems, to every
possible method to convince us — not only by
commandment and by precept, but also by example
— that God’s commandments are worth living by.
Solomon’s fame was a sounding board that
carried his voice to the ends of the earth and made
him an example to all the world of the wisdom of
God’s ideas.
This book of Proverbs has been called one of
the best guidebooks to success that a young person
can follow.
There is also an incidental element of humor in
the book of Proverbs, especially in the images
some of the proverbs evoke: “Even a fool is
thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he
holds his tongue” (17:28). “Better to live on a
corner of the roof than share a house with a
quarrelsome wife” (21:9). There is also a
delightful description of the effects of too much
alcohol (23:31-35).
Prov. 1-9 THE PROVERBS OF
SOLOMON (BOOK 1)
Chapter 1. The Object of the Book. To promote
wisdom, discipline, understanding, righteousness,
justice, equity, prudence, knowledge, discretion,
learning, guidance (vv. 2-7). What splendid
words! Wisdom (found 41 times in the book) is
more than knowledge and insight; it includes skill
in living a morally sound life. It can also include
skill at a craft (in Exodus 31:3, for example,
“skill” is the same word as “wisdom”).
The starting point is the fear of God (v. 7);
next, paying attention to parental instruction (vv. 8-
9) and avoiding bad companions (vv. 10-19).
Wisdom cries aloud her warnings, but if these
warnings are ignored, the consequences are dire
indeed (vv. 20-33).
Chapter 2. Wisdom must be sought
wholeheartedly. The place to find it is God’s Word
(v. 6). Then follows a warning against the
adulteress (KJV strange woman), a warning that is
often repeated. While wisdom is personified in
Proverbs as a pure and morally beautiful woman,
the adulteress is the opposite of wisdom — she is
folly personified.
Chapter 3. A superb and beautiful chapter:
kindness, truth, long life, peace, trust in God,
honoring God with our material possessions,
prosperity, security, happiness, blessedness.
Chapter 4. Wisdom is “the principal thing” —
it is supreme (NTV). Therefore, get wisdom! The
path of the righteous grows brighter and brighter,
while the path of the wicked will grow darker and
darker.
Chapter 5. Marital joy and loyalty. A warning
against unchaste love. Solomon had many women,
but advised against it. He seemed to think the one-
wife arrangement better (vv. 18-19). Chapters 5-7
speak about loose women. Judging from the space
Solomon devotes to them, there must have been a
good many such women then (Ecclesiastes 7:28).
In the background is always the imagery of God-
given wisdom that leads to moral living
(personified in the wife of one’s youth) and the
pursuit of folly that leads to disaster (personified
in the adulteress).
Chapter 6. Warnings against questionable
business obligations, laziness, cunning hypocrisy,
haughtiness, lying, trouble-making, disregard of
parents, illegitimate love.
Chapter 7. Warning against the adulteress
whose husband is away from home. Again, an
indirect warning against folly and the betrayal of
wisdom.
Chapters 8-9. Wisdom, personified as a
woman, inviting everyone to share in the bounty of
her banquet, in contrast to lustful women who call
out to the simple, “Stolen water is sweet; food
eaten in secret is delicious!” (9:13-18).
Prov. 10-24 THE PROVERBS OF
SOLOMON (BOOK 2)
Chapter 10. Terse contrasts between wise men
and fools, righteous and wicked, diligent and lazy,
rich and poor.
Chapter 11. Dishonest business practices
(Kjy a false balance; NIY dishonest scales) are
an abomination to God. A beautiful woman without
discretion is like a jewel in a swine’s snout. A
generous person will prosper.
Chapter 12. A worthy woman is the glory of
her husband. Lying lips are an abomination to God.
The diligent will receive precious blessings. No
harm befalls the righteous.
Plowing: “From the strength of an ox comes an abundant
harvest” (Proverbs 14:4), but “a sluggard does not plow in
season, so at harvest he looks but finds nothing” (20:4).
Chapter 13. He who guards his mouth guards
his life. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. The
way of the transgressor is hard. Walk with wise
men, and you will be wise.
Better a little with the fear of the Lord
than great wealth with turmoil.
— Proverbs 15:16
Chapter 14. He who has a short temper will
do foolish things. He who is slow to anger is a
person of great understanding. Fear of God is a
fountain of life. Tranquility of heart gives life to
the body. He who oppresses the poor shows
contempt for their Maker.
Chapter 15. A soft answer turns away anger. A
gentle tongue is a tree of life. The prayer of the
upright is God’s delight. A wise son brings joy to
his father.
Chapter 16. People make plans, but God
directs their steps. Pride comes before destruction.
Gray hair is a crown of splendor — it is attained in
a life of righteousness.
Chapter 17. To have a fool for a son brings
grief. A cheerful heart is a good medicine. Even a
fool, when he keeps his mouth shut, is considered
wise.
Chapter 18. A fool’s mouth is his destruction.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
Before honor goes humility. He who finds a wife
finds a good thing.
Chapter 19. A prudent wife is from God. He
who has pity on the poor lends to God — God will
repay him. Many are the plans in people’s hearts,
but God’s purpose prevails.
Chapter 20. Wine is a mocker. It is an honor
for a man to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to
quarrel. Lips that speak knowledge are a rare
jewel. Diverse weights and dishonest scales are an
abomination to God.
Chapter 21. It is better to live on a corner of
the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome
wife. Whoever shuts his ear to the cry of the poor
will not be heard when he cries out. Whoever
guards his tongue keeps his soul from trouble. The
horse is prepared for battle, but the victory is of
God.
Chapter 22. A good name is to be preferred
over great riches. Train a child in the way he
should go, and when he is old he will not turn from
it. A generous man will be blessed. See a man
skilled in his work? He shall serve before kings.
Chapter 23. Do not wear yourself out to get
rich. Listen to your father and mother; let them
rejoice in you when they are old. Do not withhold
discipline from a child. Listen to your father, who
gave you life, and do not despise your mother
when she is old. A rather humorous description of
the effects of too much drink (vv. 29-35).
If your enemy is hungry give him food to
eat; if he is thirsty give him water to
drink.
— Proverbs 25:21
Chapter 24. In a multitude of counselors is
safety. 1 went by the field of a lazy person; it was
overgrown with thorns. An honest answer is like a
kiss on the lips. A little sleep, a little slumber, and
poverty will come on you like a bandit.
Prov. 25-29 THE PROVERBS OF
SOLOMON (BOOK 3)
This group of Solomon’s proverbs (chaps. 25-29)
is here said to have been copied by men of King
Hezekiah (25:1). Hezekiah lived more than 200
years after Solomon. Solomon’s manuscript may
have been worn out, and a basic item in Hezekiah’s
reform movement was a renewed interest in God’s
Word (2 Kings 18).
Chapter 25. A word fitly spoken is like apples
of gold in baskets of silver. If your enemy hungers,
feed him; if he thirsts, give him something to drink;
and God will reward you (see Luke 6:35).
Chapter 26. See a man wise in his own
conceit? There is more hope for a fool than for
him. A lying tongue hates those whom it has
wounded.
Coneys, one of four creatures described in Proverbs 30:24-28
as “small, yet . . . extremely wise.”
Chapter 27. Do not boast about tomorrow, for
you know not what a day may bring forth (see
Matthew 6:34). More proverbs about fools.
Chapters 28-29. He who hides his eyes from
the poor shall have many a curse. A fool vents all
his anger, but a wise man keeps it back and stills it.
Further dissertations on fools.
Prov. 30 THE WORDS OF AGUR
It is not known who Agur was — perhaps a friend
of Solomon. Solomon liked his proverbs so well
that he thought it worthwhile to include them in his
own book.
Prov. 31 THE SAYINGS OF KING
LEMUEL
A mother’s counsel to a king. Lemuel may have
been another name for Solomon. If so, then
Bathsheba was the mother who taught him this
beautiful poem.
Few mothers have raised finer boys. As a
young man, Solomon’s character was as splendid
as any in history. In his old age, however, he did
depart from what he had been taught — contrary to
his own proverb (22:6). The chapter is about
mothers rather than kings.
The book of Proverbs ends with a superb
acrostic poem in praise of the wife of noble
character: “A wife of noble character who can
find? She is worth far more than rubies.”
Ecclesiastes
The Meaninglessness of Earthly Life
“Meaningless! Meaningless! ”
says the Teacher.
‘ ‘Utterly meani ngl ess !
Everything is meaningless. ”
— Ecclesiastes 1:2
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity
of vanities; all is vanity.
— Ecclesiastes 1:2 Ig v
Solomon, the author of this book, was in his day
the most famous and most powerful king in the
world, noted for his wisdom, riches, and literary
attainments (see on 1 Kings 4 and 9).
Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything Is
Meaningless
This is the theme of the book. It also embodies an
attempt to give a philosophic answer as to how
best to live in a world where everything appears to
be meaningless. The book contains many things of
superb beauty and transcendent wisdom. But it is
radically different from the Psalms: its
predominant mood is one of unutterable
melancholy.
David, Solomon’s father, in his long and hard
struggle to build the kingdom, was forever
shouting, “Rejoice,” “Shout for joy,” “Sing,”
“Praise God.” Solomon, sitting in peaceful security
on the throne David had built, with honor,
splendor, power, and living in almost fabled
luxury, was the one man in all the world whom
people would have thought to be happy. Yet his
unceasing refrain was, “Everything is
meaningless.” And the book, a product of
Solomon’s old age, leaves us with the distinct
impression that Solomon was not a happy man. The
word “meaningless” occurs 37 times!
Eternity
Eternity (3:11) is a more correct translation than
“world” (KJV) and may suggest the key thought of
the book: “Eternity in people’s hearts.” In the
inmost depths of our nature we have a longing for
things eternal. But back then, God had not yet
revealed very much about things eternal.
In various places in the Old Testament there
are hints and glimpses of the future life, and
Solomon seems to have had some vague ideas
about it. But it was Christ who brought life and
immortality to light (2 Timothy 1:10). Christ, by
His resurrection from the dead, gave the world a
concrete demonstration of the certainty of life
beyond the grave. And Solomon, who lived almost
1000 years before Christ, could not possibly have
the same feeling of sureness about the life beyond
that Christ later gave the world.
There is a time for everything, and a
season for every activity under heaven.
— Ecclesiastes 3:1
But Solomon saw earthly life at its best. Not a
whim but he was able to gratify it. He seems to
have made it his chief business in life to see how
good a time he could have. And this book, the
result of Solomon’s experience, has running
through it a note of unspeakable pathos: All is
“vanity and vexation of spirit” (KJV) or, as we
would say, All is meaningless and a chasing after
wind (NIV).
How Can Such a Book Be God’s Word?
God stands behind the writing of this book. Not all
of Solomon’s ideas were God’s ideas (see note on
1 Kings 11). But the general, self-evident lessons
of the book are from God. God gave Solomon
wisdom and unparalleled opportunity to observe
and explore every avenue of earthly life. And after
much research and experiment, Solomon concluded
that on the whole, humanity found little solid
happiness in life, and in his own heart he found an
unutterable yearning for something beyond himself
Thus the book, in a way, is humanity’s cry for a
Savior.
The misnamed Colossae of Memnon — they are actually
statues of Pharaoh Amenophis III of Egypt — stand forlornly in
the plain, guarding nothing. The temple that once stood behind
them is long gone: an apt illustration of the ultimate
meaninglessness of power and glory.
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
— Ecclesiastes 12:13
With the coming of Christ, the cry was
answered. The vanity of life disappeared. Life is
no longer meaningless but full of joy and peace.
Jesus never used the word “meaningless.” But He
talked much of His joy, even under the shadow of
the Cross. “Joy” is one of the key words of the
New Testament. In Christ, humanity found the
desire of the ages: life — full, abundant, joyous,
glorious life.
Eccl. 1-4 ALL IS VANITY
In a world where everything passes away and fails
to satisfy, Solomon set himself to answer the
question. What is the solution to the problem of life
in such a world? The world is one of unending
monotony. Solomon felt the meaninglessness of life
and the emptiness and uselessness of his own vast
works. Even wisdom, which Solomon sought so
diligently and prized so highly, was disappointing.
The pursuits and pleasures of humanity in general
seemed to him to be merely a chasing after wind.
And it was all made worse by the wickedness and
cruelties of men.
Eccl. 5-10 MISCELLANEOUS
PROVERBS
Solomon’s favorite form of literature was
proverbs. In these chapters he intersperses
proverbs with various observations relating to the
general theme of the book. In 7:27-28 there may be
an oblique reference to Solomon’s experience with
his 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:1-
11). One would guess, from 7:26-28, that he had
had some difficulty in holding the faithless women
of his court in line.
Eccl. 11-12 SOLOMON’S
ANSWER
Solomon’s answer to his question. What is it that
we can do in a world where all is meaningless? is
scattered throughout the book and is summed up at
the close: eat, drink, rejoice, do good, live joyfully
with your wife, do with full commitment what your
hands find to do, and above all, fear God, keeping
your eyes on the day of final judgment. With all his
complaints about the nature of creation, Solomon
had no doubt as to the existence and justice of the
Creator. God is mentioned at least 40 times in this
book — more frequently than vanity or
meaningless/meaninglessness !
Song of Songs
i i
In Praise of Married Love
“See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me. ’’
— Song of Songs 2:11-13
The Song of Songs is a love song, set in
blossoming springtime, full of metaphors and a
profusion of oriental imagery that shows
Solomon’s fondness for nature, gardens, meadows,
vineyards, orchards, and flocks (1 Kings 4:33).
It is called the Song of Songs, possibly
indicating that Solomon considered it the most
marvelous of the 1,005 songs he wrote (1 Kings
4:32). Some think that it was written to celebrate
marriage to his favorite wife.
A Poem
Scholars familiar with the structure of Hebrew
poetry consider this book to be a superb
composition. (On Hebrew poetry, see Poetry in the
chapter on Poetry and Wisdom: Job-Song of
Songs.) But its sudden transitions from one speaker
to another, and from place to place, with no
explanation of its shifting scenes and actors, makes
it difficult to follow. In Hebrew the change of
speakers is indicated by gender; in some Bibles,
by extra space.
The Speakers
It seems clear that the speakers are
• The bride, called the Shulammite (6:13)
• The king
• A chorus of palace women called “daughters
of Jerusalem”
Solomon’s harem at this point was still
relatively small — only 60 wives and 80
concubines, with innumerable virgins on the
waiting list (6:8). Later it grew to include 700
wives and 300 concubines (see note on 1 Kings
11:3).
The Bride
A common opinion, and probably the best, is that
the Shulammite was Abishag of Shunem, the most
beautiful woman in all the land, who attended
David in his last days ( 1 Kings 1 : 1-4) and who, no
doubt, became Solomon’s wife, for her marriage to
another might have endangered his throne ( 1 Kings
2:17,22).
Interpretations
On the face of it, the poem is a song of praise to the
joys of married life. Its essence is to be found in its
tender and devoted expressions of the intimate
delights of married love. Even if it is no more than
that, it is worthy of a place in God’s Word, for
marriage was ordained of God (Genesis 2:24).
And human happiness and welfare depend to a
very large extent on proper mutual attitudes in the
intimate relationship of married life.
However, both Jews and Christians have seen
deeper meanings in this poem. Jews read it at
Passover as an allegory referring to the Exodus,
when God took Israel to Himself as His bride. His
love for Israel then is here exemplified in the
spontaneous love of a great king for a humble
young woman. In the Old Testament, Israel is
called God’s wife (Jeremiah 3:1; Ezekiel 16, 23).
Christians have usually regarded it as a song of
Christ and the church. In the New Testament the
church is called the bride of Christ (Matthew 9:15;
25:1; John 3:29; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians
5:23; Revelation 19:7; 21:2; 22:17). In this view,
human marriage is a counterpart to and foretaste of
the relationship between Christ and His church.
How could a man with a harem of 1000 women
have a love for any one of them that would be fit to
be a portrayal of Christ’s love for the church? A
number of Old Testament saints were polygamists.
Even though God’s Law was against it from the
beginning, as Christ so plainly stated, in Old
Testament times God nevertheless seems to have
accommodated Himself, in measure, to prevailing
customs. Kings generally had many wives. It was
one of the prerogatives and status symbols of
royalty. And Solomon’s devotion to this lovely girl
seems to be genuine and unmistakable. Also, he
was a king in the family that was to produce the
Messiah. And it seems not unfitting that his
marriage should, in a sense, prefigure the
Messiah’s eternal marriage to His bride. The joys
of this song, we think, will find their zenith in the
hallelujahs of the Lamb’s marriage supper
(Revelation 19:6-9).
An Outline of the Poem
It is not always easy to see who is speaking. The
outline below is consistent with the content of the
book, but other outlines are also possible. (It helps
to mark in the Bible which verses belong to which
of the three speakers, so that the poem can be read
through in its entirety without interruptions.)
Chapter 1: The bride expresses her love for
the king, and the king for his bride.
The King — 1:9—11, 1:15, 1:17
The Bride (the Shulammite) — l:2-4a, 1:4c-
7 (“How right...”), 1:12-14, 1:16
Chorus of Palace Women — 1:4b (“we
rejoice...”), 1:8
Chapters 2-3: The bride thinks about the king
both day and night.
The King — 2:2, 2:14-15
The Bride (the Shulammite) — 2:1, 2:3-13,
2:16-3:11
Chapter 4: The king also cannot keep from
thinking about his bride, who invites him into
her garden of marital delights.
The King — 4:115
The Bride (the Shulammite) — 4: 16
Chapter 5: The bride remembers the delight
of their union, and she is almost overwhelmed
by her love for the king.
The King — 5:1a
The Bride (the Shulammite) — 5:2-8, 5: 10—
16
Chorus of Palace Women — 5:1b (“Eat, O
friends... ”), 5:9
Chapter 6:l-7:9a: The king’s response to the
bride’s expression of her love; the bride’s
contentment.
The King— 6:4-9, 6:11-12, 6:13b-7:9a
(“Why would you gaze . . . ”)
The Bride (the Shulammite) — 6:2-3
Chorus of Palace Women — 6:1, 6: 10, 6:13a
Chapter 7:9b-8:14: The bride’s frustration
that social custom and the king’s official
duties limit the time she can spend with him.
The final expression of love and commitment.
The King — 8:13
The Bride (the Shulammite) — 7:9b-8:4
“May the wine...”), 8:5b-7 (“Under the
tree...”), 8:10-12, 8:14
Chorus of Palace Women — 8:5a
THE PROPHETS
Isaiah-Malachi
Originally, the term “prophet” was applied to
individuals who provided significant military and
judicial leadership — for example, Moses
(Deuteronomy 18:15) and Deborah (Judges 4:4). It
was also used of persons who had ecstatic
experiences of contact with God (Numbers 11:24-
29; 1 Samuel 19:20-24; 2 Kings 3:15) and of
individuals who were protected by God in some
special way (Abraham, Genesis 20:7; see also
Psalm 105:15).
During the monarchy, prophets became
advisers to the kings (1 Samuel 22:5; Isaiah 37:1—
4; Jeremiah 37:16-17). There were at times many
prophets: in the days of Ahab there were 400 (1
Kings 22:6).
The important early prophets (Samuel, Elijah,
Elisha) did not leave behind any writings that have
been preserved. They advised the king, and if
necessary opposed him (Elijah and Ahab!), but it
is the later, writing prophets who stand out most
clearly as the voice of God in the face of the
people’s disobedience. They address not only the
king but also the nation as a whole.
The prophets of Israel were individuals called
by God to bring the people back to God. The office
of prophet was not hereditary like that of priest or
king. Prophets were chosen from many different
walks of life, and the call was not an invitation but
a divine appointment (see Amos 7:15).
The Prophets and the Covenant
The prophets were not merely preachers. They
were the voice of the covenants God made with
Abraham (Genesis 12, 15), with Israel at Mount
Sinai (Exodus 24), and with David (2 Samuel 7).
These covenants were in effect treaties, with
mutual obligations and with a clear statement of
what would happen if the people kept the
stipulations of the covenant and what would
happen if they ignored them. Deuteronomy 28
outlines the curses and blessings that will result
from disobedience and obedience. (Deuteronomy
follows the format of Hittite treaties; see
Deuteronomy .)
Thus, when the prophets warn of the disasters
that will befall Israel or Judah because of their
disobedience, they are saying that the covenant
warnings given hundreds of years before are about
to be fulfilled. In the same way, since the covenant
also specifies blessing as the reward for
obedience, the prophets can promise blessing if the
people turn back to God. The future is thus
“contingent” on the people’s response to the
message of the prophets — until a point of no return
is reached.
But even then, the prophets can promise future
blessing. God made the covenant because He
loved Israel. That is why God will be faithful to
the covenant, even if Israel is not — in fact, He will
go beyond the terms of the covenant and replace it
with a new covenant. This covenant will be
written on people’s hearts rather than on stone
tablets (see the magnificent promises in Jeremiah
30-31, especially 31:31-37).
The prophets are thus the spiritual conscience
of the nation. They are appointed to remind kings,
priests, and people of their obligations to God and
people.
There were many prophets in Israel who never
wrote or whose writings have not been preserved.
There also appears to have been an order of
prophets, with its own schools (see sidebar
Prophets in the chapter on 1 Samuel). The prophets
whose writings we still have (and the two great
prophets about whom we read in the books of
Kings and Chronicles, Elijah and Elisha) were
very conscious of speaking in the name of the Lord.
The constantly reiterated, solemn introduction to
their message is, “This is what the Lord says” or
“The word of the Lord came to me.”
The false prophets, of which there were
apparently many, remembered the promises of
blessing in the covenant and reassured the people
that God would never allow His temple and
Jerusalem, His city, or Israel, His people, to be
destroyed. They conveniently forgot that the
covenant also spelled out the curse that
disobedience would bring on the people and the
land. They also forgot that, not religious rituals, but
the love of God for His people and of His people
for Him were the foundation of the covenant.
Religious rituals were significant only if they were
the expression of an inner attitude. God can get
along very well without a temple and sacrifices —
but in His love He greatly desires the love of His
people.
When the prophets spoke up for justice and
advocated concern for the poor, they did not say
these things because they had come to a more
enlightened vision than their contemporaries.
Rather, they appealed to the ancient covenant, of
which justice and social concern were an essential
part: for example, concern for widows and
orphans, for the poor, and for foreigners, as well
as the provisions of the Year of Jubilee, which (if
kept) would make it impossible for any family to
descend permanently into landless poverty.
To:
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1
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cr
£
z
ieS i
Z
Early Prophets
Samuel
(1 Samuel)
1050-1000 B.C
✓
Elijah
(1 Kings 17-
2 Kings 2)
875-848 B.C.
✓
Elisha
(1 Kings 19;
2 Kings 2-13)
848-797 B.C.
✓
Micaiah
(1 Kings 22)
849 B.C.
/
Assyrian Age
jonah
770 B.C
✓
Amos
760 BC.
✓
Hosea
760 730 B.C.
/
Isaiah
740 700 BC
✓
Micah
737-690 B.C.
✓
Babylonian Age
Nahum
650 B.C.
/
Habakkuk
630 B.C.
✓
Zephaniah
677 B.C,
/
Jeremiah
627-580 B.C.
✓
Daniel
605 530 BC.
/
Ezekiel
593-570 B C.
/
Persian Age
Haggai
520 B.C.
✓
Zechariah
520 518 BC.
/
Joel
500 B.C.
✓
Obadiah
500 BC.
✓
Malachi
443 B.C.
/
— Blttd on )o*n H. Wilton. dfcttft ofofcol and Bock ground Chorti of the Okt AMMMM
The Prophets of Israel and Judah
The chart Prophets shows that the early prophets
and the earliest writing prophets addressed Israel
(the northern kingdom), which ceased to exist in
722 B.c. when the Assyrians destroyed Samaria.
Beginning with Isaiah, the prophets addressed
Judah, the southern kingdom
(Note that the dates are approximate;
especially the dates of Obadiah and Joel are
uncertain.)
Isaiah
The Messianic Prophet
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory. ’’
— Isaiah 6:3
You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.
— Isaiah 26:3
“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. ”
— Isaiah 60: 1
(For a summary of Isaiah’s prophecies about the
Messiah, see sidebar A Summary of Isaiah’s
Predictions in the chapter on Isaiah.)
Isaiah is called the messianic prophet because
he was so thoroughly imbued with the idea that his
nation was to be a nation through whom one day a
great and wonderful blessing would come from
God to all nations: the Messiah, sent from God,
who would bring peace, justice, and healing to the
whole world. He was continually focused on the
day when that great and wonderful work would be
done.
The New Testament says that Isaiah “saw the
glory of Christ, and spoke of him” (John 12:41).
The Man Isaiah
Isaiah was a prophet of the southern kingdom,
Judah, at the time the northern kingdom, Israel, had
already been destroyed by the Assyrians.
Isaiah lived during the reigns of kings Uzziah,
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. God called him in the
year of Uzziah’s death, but he may have received
some of his visions earlier (see on 6:1). According
to Jewish tradition, Isaiah was executed by King
Manasseh. We may tentatively place his active
ministry at about 740-700 B.c.
Rabbinic tradition has it that Isaiah’s father,
Amoz (not the same as Amos the prophet), was a
brother of King Amaziah. This would make Isaiah
a first cousin of King Uzziah and a grandson of
King Joash, and thus of royal blood, a man of the
palace.
Isaiah wrote other books, which have not been
preserved to us: a Life of Uzziah (2 Chronicles
26:22) and a Book of the Kings of Israel and
Judah (2 Chronicles 32:32). He is quoted in the
New Testament more than any other prophet. What
a mind he had! In some of his rhapsodies he
reaches heights unequaled even by Shakespeare,
Milton, or Homer.
An unsubstantiated Jewish tradition (The
Ascension of Isaiah) claims that Isaiah was sawed
in half during the reign of King Manasseh of Judah.
Hebrews 11:37 (“they were sawed in two”) may
refer to Isaiah’s death.
The Assyrian Background of Isaiah’s Mi nistry
The Assyrian Empire had been expanding for 150
years before the days of Isaiah. As early as 840
B.c., Israel, under King Jehu, had begun to pay
tribute to Assyria. While Isaiah was still a young
man (734 B.c,), Assyria took away the population
of the northern part of Israel. Thirteen years later
(72 1 B.c,), Samaria fell, and the rest of Israel was
forced into exile. Then, a few years later,
Sennacherib of Assyria came into Judah, destroyed
46 walled cities, and took 200,000 captives with
him. Finally, in 701 B.c,, when Isaiah was an old
man, the Assyrians were stopped before the walls
of Jerusalem by an angel of God (2 Chronicles
32:21). Thus Isaiah’s whole life was spent under
the shadow of the threat of Assyria, and he himself
witnessed the ruin of his entire nation at their
hands, except Jerusalem.
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The Isaiah
Scroll. All original copies of Bible books, as far
as is known, have been lost. Our Bible is made
from copies of copies. Until the invention of
printing in a.d. 1454, these copies were made by
hand.
Old Testament books were written in Hebrew
(and a few sections in Aramaic). New Testament
books were written in Greek. The oldest known,
extant, complete Bible manuscripts date from the
4th and 5th centuries a.d. They are in Greek,
containing, for the Old Testament, the Septuagint,
which was a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old
Testament made in the 3rd century B.c. (See
Languages and Writings in the New Testament Era
in the chapter The 400 Years Between the
Testaments, and The Old Testament Canon in the
chapter How We Got the Bible.)
The oldest known existing Hebrew manuscripts
of Old Testament books were made about a.d. 900.
These contain what is called the Masoretic Text of
the Hebrew Old Testament, from which our
English translations of Old Testament books have
been made. The Masoretic Text comes from a
comparison of all available manuscripts, copied
from previous copies by many different lines of
scribes. In these manuscripts there is so little
variation that Hebrew scholars are in general
agreement that our present Bible text is essentially
the same as that in the original books themselves.
The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling
together;
and a little child will lead them. . . .
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge
of
the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
— Isaiah 11:6, 9
Then, in 1947, at Ain Fashkha, about seven
miles south of Jericho and one mile west of the
Dead Sea, some wandering Arab Bedouins,
carrying goods from the Jordan Valley to
Bethlehem and searching for a lost goat in a wadi
(stream or river bed) that empties into the Dead
Sea, came upon a partially collapsed cave, in
which they found a number of crushed jars from
which ends of scrolls protruded. The Bedouins
pulled out the scrolls, took them along, and passed
them on to St. Mark’s Syrian Orthodox Convent in
Jerusalem, who turned them over to the American
Schools of Oriental Research. These and other
scrolls that were later found in that same vicinity,
Qumran, are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
One of these scrolls was identified as the book
of Isaiah, written 2000 years ago — 1000 years
older than any known manuscript of any Hebrew
Old Testament book. It is a scroll, written in
ancient Hebrew script on parchment, about 24 feet
long, made up of sheets of about 10 by 15 inches,
sewn together. It was made in the 2nd century B.c.
This and the other scrolls had originally been
carefully sealed in earthenware jars. Evidently
they were part of a Jewish library that had been
hidden in this isolated cave in time of danger,
perhaps during the Roman conquest of Judea.
Bible scholars have concluded that the Dead
Sea Scrolls of Isaiah are essentially the same as
the book of Isaiah in our Bible — a voice from
2000 years ago confirming the integrity of our
Bible. In all, 22 copies of the book of Isaiah have
been found at Qumran, though not all are complete.
The Grand Achievement of Isaiah’s Life
Isaiah’s greatest achievement was the deliverance
of Jerusalem from the Assyrians. It was through his
prayer, and by his advice to King Hezekiah, and by
the direct miraculous intervention of God, that the
dreaded Assyrian army was sent home in disarray
from before the walls of Jerusalem. (See chapters
36-37.) Sennacherib, king of Assyria, lived 20
years after this, but he never again marched against
Jerusalem.
CONTEMPORARY KINGS OF
JUDAH
Uzziah 92-740 B.c. A good king with a long
and successful reign
Jotham 750-732 A good king; mostly
coregent with Uzziah
Ahaz 735-716 Very wicked (see under 2
Chronicles 28)
Hezekiah 7 1 6-687 A good king (see under 2
Chronicles 29)
Manasseh 697-643 Very wicked (see under
2 Chronicles 33)
CONTEMPORARY KINGS OF
ISRAEL
Jeroboam II 793-753 B.c, A long,
prosperous, but idolatrous reign
Zechariah 753-0752 Assassinated
Shallum 752 Assassinated
Menahem 7 5 2-7 42 Extremely brutal
Pekahiah 742-740 Assassinated by Pekah
Pekah 752-732 Under Pekah the northern
part of Israel was taken into captivity (734
B.C.)
Hoshea 732-722 The last king of Israel;
Samaria fell in 721 B.c.
Isa. 1 THE APPALLING
WICKEDNESS OF JUDAH
This frightful indictment seems to belong to the
middle period of Hezekiah’s reign, after the fall of
the northern kingdom, when the Assyrians had
invaded Judah and had carried away a large part of
its population, so that Jerusalem alone was left
(vv. 7-9). Hezekiah’s reforms had barely scratched
the surface of the rotten life of the people. The
dreaded Assyrian tornado was drawing ever
closer and closer.
But it made no difference. The diseased nation,
instead of cleansing itself, only paid more
meticulous attention to the camouflage of devotion
to religious services. Isaiah’s scathing
denunciation of their hypocritical religiosity (vv.
10-17) reminds us of Jesus’ merciless
condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees
(Matthew 23). The point is that making a show of
religiosity is of no avail for “Sodom” (v. 10). Only
genuine repentance and obedience would save
them (vv. 16-23). Then Isaiah turns from this
sickening picture to the day of Zion’s purification
and redemption, when the wicked will be left to
burn like a dried-up oak tree (vv. 24-3 1).
Isa. 2-4 A PRE-VISION OF THE
CHRISTIAN AGE
These three chapters seem to be an expansion of
the closing thought of chapter 1 . They deal with the
future glory of Zion in contrast to God’s judgment
on the wicked. The allusion to idols and foreign
customs (2:6-9) may locate this vision in the reign
of Ahaz. The peace described may also prophesy
conditions in the New Jerusalem after Christ’s
return, when the wicked have been judged
(Revelation 21).
Zion will be the center of world civilization in
an era of universal and endless peace (2:2-4).
This passage of magnificent optimism was uttered
at a time when Jerusalem was a veritable cesspool
of filth. Whatever, whenever, wherever that happy
age is to be, it will be the inheritance of God’s
people, with the wicked left out. (See further under
11:6-9.)
Coming judgment for idol worshipers (2:5-
22). Suffering and exile lie ahead for Judah (3:1-
15) — even for the fashionable ladies of Jerusalem
(3:16-26). Their experience will be like that of the
ladies of luxury in Samaria, described in Amos
4:1-3.
Seven women to one man (4:1), because the
men will have been killed in war.
The coming “Branch” (4:2-6). This is
Isaiah’s first mention of the future Messiah. “The
Branch” would be a new shoot coming out of the
stump of the fallen family tree of David (11:1;
53:2; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12).
He would be the one to purge the filth from Zion
and make her a blessing to the world.
Isa. 5 A SONG OF THE
VINEYARD
A sort of funeral dirge. After centuries of most
extraordinary care, God’s vineyard — His nation —
turns out to be fruitless and disappointing, so it is
now to be abandoned. Jesus’ parable of the
vineyard (Matthew 21:33-45) seems to be an echo
of this parable. The sins Isaiah denounces here
especially are greed, injustice, and drunkenness.
The vast estates of the rich, accumulated by
robbery of the poor, soon would become
wasteland.
A bath (v. 10) is six gallons (22 liters), a
homer is six bushels, and an ephah is only one-
tenth of a homer. The harvest does not even
recover the investment in seed.
Draw sin along (v. 18) as if sin and
wickedness were their most prized possessions;
they scoff at the idea that God would punish them.
Distant nations (vv. 25-30): the mighty
nations are like docile dogs to God — He whistles
and they come — the Assyrians in Isaiah’s own
time; the Babylonians who, 100 years later,
destroyed Jerusalem; and the Romans, who in a.d.
70 struck the death-blow to Jewish national
existence.
Isa. 6 ISAIAH’S CALL
There is difference of opinion as to whether this
vision came before the visions of the first five
chapters. The dates mentioned in the book are in
chronological sequence (6:1; 7:1; 14:28; 20:1;
36:1). This indicates that the book follows a
general chronological order, but not necessarily in
all particulars. Isaiah, in later life, probably
rearranged visions he had written down at various
times of his long ministry, guided in part by the
sequence of thoughts, so that some chapters may
antedate preceding chapters.
Also, opinion varies as to whether this was
Isaiah’s original call or a summons to a special
mission. The statement in 1:1 indicated that some
of his ministry was in the days of Uzziah, while
this call came in the year of Uzziah’s death. This
may imply that he had already done some earlier
preaching and that this call was God’s
authorization for Isaiah’s ministry in the future.
The particular task to which Isaiah was called
seems, on the face of it, to have been the bringing
about of the final hardening of the nation so as to
ensure its destruction (vv. 9-10). But God’s
purpose, of course, was not to harden the nation
but rather to bring it to repentance in order to save
it from destruction. This is clearly illustrated in the
case of Jonah, whose announcement of the
destruction of Nineveh caused the city to repent.
Isaiah’s whole ministry — with its marvelous
visions and climaxed by one of the most
stupendous miracles of the ages — was, so to speak,
God’s frantic waving of a red flag to halt the nation
in its mad sweep toward the precipice of
destruction. But when a nation sets itself against
God, even His wondrous mercy results only in
further hardening.
For how long? (v. 11): how long shall this
hardening process go on? The answer is bleak:
until the land is ruined and the people are gone (vv.
11 - 12 ).
Tenth (v. 13): a remnant will be left, but it will
in its turn also be destroyed. This was uttered in
735 B.c. Within a year, the northern portion of
Israel was taken away by the Assyrians. Within 14
years, all the rest of the northern kingdom had
fallen (721 B.c.), and Judah (roughly a “tenth”)
alone was left. Another 100 years, and Judah was
also destroyed (586 b.c.).
Isa. 7 THE CHILD “IMMANUEL”
The occasion of this prophecy was the invasion of
Judah by the kings of Syria and Israel. They first
attacked Judah separately (2 Chronicles 28:5-6),
then together (2 Kings 16:5). Their object was to
replace Ahaz with another king (v. 6). Ahaz
appealed to the king of Assyria for help (2 Kings
16:7). The king of Assyria responded with an
invasion of Syria and the northern part of Israel
and took their populations with them into exile in
734 b.c. (2 Kings 15:29; 16:9).
In the early part of this Syro-Israelite attack on
Jerusalem, Isaiah assured Ahaz that the attack
would fail, Syria and Israel destroyed, and Judah
saved. The 65 years (v. 8) is thought to cover the
period from the first deportation of Israel (734
B.c.) to the settlement of foreigners in the land by
Esarhaddon around 670 B.c. (2 Kings 17:24; Ezra
4:2).
The virgin and her son Immanuel (vv. 10-
16). This is spoken of as a “sign” intended to give
the skeptical Ahaz assurance of speedy
deliverance. A “sign” is a miracle that is
performed to provide evidence for the truth. The
virgin is not named, but the reference is to
something very unusual that is not further explained
but that would happen in the immediate future in
David’s family (Ahaz’s own household). It is a
case of blending pictures that are on the near and
the far horizons, as is so frequent in the prophets.
For to us a child is born
to us a son is given,
and the government will be
on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince
of Peace.
Of the increase of his government
and peace
there will be no end.
— Isaiah 9:6-7
The royal character of the child is indicated in
8:8; the context identifies him with the child called
“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace” in 9:6-7, who can be no
other than the future Messiah. It is so quoted in
Matthew 1 :23. Thus, as Isaiah is talking to Ahaz of
signs in his own family — the house of David — God
projects before his mind an image of a greater sign
yet to occur in David’s family: the virgin birth of
the greater Son of David Himself.
Judah to be devastated by Assyria (vv. 17-
25) — the same Assyria that was helping Judah
against Israel and Syria. It happened within
Isaiah’s lifetime; Jerusalem alone remained.
Isa. 8 “MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-
BAZ”
Three children are mentioned in connection with
the invasion of Judah by Syria and Israel: one in
the family of David, Immanuel (7:13-14), and two
in Isaiah’s own family: Shear-Jashub (7:3) and
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (8: 1-4).
Shear-Jashub means “a remnant shall return.”
Isaiah, foreseeing the Babylonian captivity of
Judah 100 years before it came to pass, envisions a
rescued remnant and gives his son this name of
promise. That remnant and its glorious future are
the main theme of Isaiah’s book.
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means “quick to the
plunder, swift to the spoil” — that is, Syria and
Israel will soon be destroyed. Thus naming his
child for the idea of swift deliverance is Isaiah’s
way of emphasizing what he had already predicted
in 7:4, 7, 16. And it promptly happened. Then the
victorious Assyrians swept on into Judah (v. 8)
and were stopped by direct intervention of God
(37:36).
Thus the names of Isaiah’s sons reflect the
heart of his daily preaching: present deliverance,
coming exile or captivity, future glory.
The distress and gloom of the exile (vv. 9-
22). Isaiah is told to write his prophecy and to
preserve it for reference in the day of its
fulfillment^. 16).
Isa. 9 THE WONDERFUL CHILD
The setting for this sublime vision was the fall of
Israel, which Isaiah had just predicted in chapters
7-8. Zebulun and Naphtali (v. 1), the Galilee
region, was the first region to fall to the Assyrians
(2 Kings 15:29). But that same region would one
day have the proud honor of giving to the world the
Redeemer of humanity, the King of the ages. In
2:2-4 Isaiah sees Zion’s future universal reign; in
4:2-6 he sees the King Himself (John 12:41); in
7:14 His virgin birth is predicted; and here, in
9:6-7, Isaiah speaks in measured, majestic words
of His deity and the eternal nature of His throne.
Samaria’s persistent impenitence (9:8-10:4).
Following his habit of suddenly shifting back and
forth between his own time and the future, Isaiah
abruptly turns his eyes toward Samaria. Many of
the inhabitants of the Galilee region were carried
away in 734 B.c,, but Samaria held out until 721
B.c. These lines seem to belong to the 13 years in
between, when the people who were left still
persevered in their defiance of both God and the
Assyrians. It is a poem of four stanzas, warning
Samaria of what was in store for them.
Isa. 10:5-34 THE ADVANCING
ASSYRIANS
This was written after the fall of Samaria (v. 11),
in defiance of the boastful Assyrians as they
marched on into Judah, up to the very gates of
Jerusalem. The cities named in vv. 28-32 were
just north of Jerusalem. God had used the
Assyrians to punish Israel, but here He cautions
them against overestimating their power (v. 15)
and promises them a humiliating defeat (v. 26),
like the defeat of the Midianites by Gideon (Judges
7: 19-25) and that of the Egyptians in the Red Sea
(Exodus 14). Sargon, one year after he had
destroyed Samaria, turned southward, invaded
Judah (720 B.c,), took a number of Philistine cities,
and defeated the Egyptian army. In 713 B.c.
Sargon’s army again invaded Judah, Philistia,
Edom, and Moab, and in 701 B.c, a vast army of
Assyrians came again into the land — at which time
God made good His promise and dealt the
Assyrians such a sudden and violent blow that they
never marched against Jerusalem again (37:36).
Isa. 11-12 THE “BRANCH” AND
HIS KINGDOM
These chapters are an expansion of 2:2-4; 4:2-6;
7:14; 9:1-7. Here Isaiah again suddenly turns his
eyes to the far future, after predicting the
overthrow of the Assyrian army, and gives us one
of the most glorious pictures of the world to come
in all of Scripture. A world without war, ruled by a
righteous and benevolent King of Davidic descent,
consisting of the redeemed of all nations together
with the restored remnant of Judah. Whether this
will ever be in our world of flesh and blood or in
an era “beyond the veil,” we do not know. But that
it is to be is as sure as the morning. The subject is
continued again in 25:6. Chapter 12 is a song of
praise for the day of triumph, which God put in
Isaiah’s mouth, one of the songs in the hymnbook of
heaven, which we will all sing when we get there,
when all discordant elements shall have
disappeared.
Isa. 13:1-14:27 THE FALL OF
BABYLON
In Isaiah’s time, Assyria was the dominant power
of the world, while Babylon was under the control
of Assyria. Babylon rose to become the dominant
world power in 605 B.c. and fell to the Medes and
Persians in 539 B.c, Thus Isaiah sang of the fall ol
Babylon 100 years before its rise. Modern critics,
therefore, claim that these cannot be the words ol
Isaiah but must be those of some later prophet,
spoken after the fact. However, it is specifically
stated that they are Isaiah’s words (13:1).
The splendor to which Babylon rose 100 years
after Isaiah’s day, to become the Queen City of the
pre-Christian world, “the glory of kingdoms”
(13:19), “the city of gold” (14:4), is here as
clearly envisioned as if Isaiah had been there. But
the burden of the prophecy is the fall of Babylon,
pictured in such detail that it awes us into profound
wonderment. The Medes, who in Isaiah’s day were
an almost unknown people, are named as the
destroyers of Babylon ( 13: 17-19).
The gist of the prophecy is this: Babylon shall
supersede Assyria (14:25), and Media shall
supersede Babylon (13:17), and Babylon shall
pass away forever (13:19-22; 14:22-23). (For
fulfillment of this astonishing prediction, see under
2 Kings 25.)
The point of special interest was that the fall of
Babylon would mean the release of the captives or
exiles (14:1-4). Within one year after the fall of
Babylon, Cyrus, the Medo-Persian king, issued a
decree that allowed the Jews to return to their
homeland (Ezra 1:1).
A hundred years after Isaiah, when Babylon
had risen to power and was demolishing
Jerusalem, Jeremiah would take up Isaiah’s cry for
vengeance (see Jeremiah 50-5 1).
Babylon, as oppressor of the Jews, was the
counterpart and pattern of a New Testament power
that will enslave the people of the earth
(Revelation 17-19).
Isa. 14:28-32 PHILISTIA
The snake (v. 29) probably means Tiglath-pileser,
who had taken certain Philistine cities and who
had died just a year ahead of Ahaz (v. 28). The
more poisonous viper and the “darting, venomous
serpent” were Sargon and Sennacherib, who
completed the desolation of Philistia. Envoys (v.
32) probably were Philistine ambassadors asking
Jerusalem for help against the Assyrians. (Other
denunciations of the Philistines are found in
Jeremiah 47; Amos 1:6-8; Zephaniah 2:4-7;
Zechariah 9:5-7.)
Isa. 15-16 MOAB
Moab was a rolling plateau of rich pasturelands
lying east of the Dead Sea. The Moabites were
descendants of Lot (Genesis 19:37), and thus a
nation related to the Jews. This was one of Isaiah’s
earlier predictions, now reiterated with a time
limit of three years (16: 14). The cities named were
pillaged by Tiglath-pileser III in 732 B.c., by
Sargon II in 713 B.c., and by Sennacherib in 701
B.c, It is not indicated to which of these three
Isaiah refers. But Isaiah advises the Moabites that
it would be to their advantage to renew their
allegiance to the house of David (16:1-5); at the
mention of the house of David an image of the
future Messiah comes into his vision (v. 5). In the
family tree of David there was a Moabitess: Ruth
(Ruth 4:17-22). (For other prophecies about
Moab, see Jeremiah 48; Amos 2:1-3; Zephaniah
2 : 8 - 11 .)
Isa. 17 DAMASCUS
A continuation of the thought of chapter 7, probably
written at about the same time, during the Syro-
Israelite attack on Judah (734 B.c.), and fulfilled
shortly thereafter in the invasions of Tiglath-
pileser and Sargon. It is directed also against
Israel (vv. 3-4) because they were in alliance with
Damascus.
Look to their Maker (v. 7): the remnant left in
the northern kingdom returned to Jehovah, as
indicated in 2 Chronicles 34:9. Isaiah closes with
a vision of the overthrow of the Assyrians,
following their victory over Syria and Israel (vv.
12-14; especially v. 14, which seems a definite
reference to 37:36).
Isa. 18 CUSH
Cush (Kjy Ethiopia) was southern Egypt, whose
powerful king at that time ruled over all of Egypt.
This is not a prophecy of doom, but seems rather to
refer to the excitement and call to arms among the
Cushites at the advance of Sennacherib’s army into
Judah, whose fall would leave open the gateway
for the Assyrian march on into Egypt (vv. 1-3).
The miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem (vv. 4-6;
37:36) is the cause for Cush’s message of gratitude
for the destruction of the Assyrian army (v. 7; see 2
Chronicles 32:23).
Isa. 19 EGYPT
A period of anarchy and internal conflict (vv. 1-
4). This actually began at about the time of Isaiah’s
death. The cruel master (v. 4) is the Assyrian king
Esarhaddon, who shortly after Isaiah’s death
subdued Egypt (670 B.c,).
The decline and disintegration of Egypt is
predicted (vv. 5-17). This all came to pass (see
Jeremiah 46; Ezekiel 29).
Egypt and Assyria will accept the religion of
Judah (w. 18-25). After the Babylonian exile,
many Jews remained in the Euphrates valley, and
great numbers of them settled in Egypt. Alexandria,
the second-leading city of the world in Jesus’ day,
had a significant Jewish population. The
Septuagint translation of the Old Testament was
made there. “City of Destruction” is probably a
reference to Heliopolis, the city of the sun god (the
Hebrew words for “sun” and “destruction” are
almost identical). ft was destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar (see Jeremiah 43:12-13).
Isa. 20 EGYPT AND CUSH
Isaiah’s warning of their defeat and captivity is
intended to discourage Judah from looking to Egypt
for aid against Assyria. This was 711 B.c. The
prediction was fulfilled 11 years later.
Sennacherib’s annals for 701 B.c, say: “1 fought
with the kings of Egypt, accomplished their
overthrow, and captured alive charioteers and sons
of the king.” Esarhaddon further ruined Egypt (see
under 19:1-4).
Sargon (v. 1): this was the only known mention
of Sargon’s name until archaeological excavations
of the 19th century revealed him as one of the
greatest of the Assyrian kings.
Isa. 21 BABYLON, EDOM,
ARABIA
Babylon (vv. 1-10), surrounded by a vast system
of dikes and canals, was like a city in the sea. This
is a graphic announcement of its fall. The mention
of Elam and Media (v. 2) point to Babylon’s
capture by Cyrus (539 B.c.; see further under
chapters 13-14).
Dumah (vv. 11-12) was the name of a district
south of Edom; here the name is used for Edom, of
which Seir was the central district.
Arabia (vv. 13-17) refers to the desert
between Edom and Babylon. Dedan, Tema, and
Kedar were places where leading Arabian tribes
lived. This is a prediction that they will experience
a terrific blow within a year — and indeed, Sargon
invaded Arabia in 715 B.c.
Isa. 22 JERUSALEM
Jerusalem is referred to as the Valley of Vision
because the hill on which it was situated was
surrounded by valleys, with higher hills beyond,
and was the place where God revealed Himself
Jerusalem is rebuked for giving itself to reckless
indulgence while besieged by the Assyrian army.
Their defense (vv. 9-11; 2 Chronicles 32:3-5)
included everything except turning to God.
The demotion of Shebna, the palace steward
(vv. 15-25), may have been because he, an officer
of the house of David, was the leader in the city’s
frivolous conduct in the face of grave danger. The
elevation of Eliakim (“God raises up”) to the
office of steward may have messianic implications
(vv. 22-25).
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Hezekiah’s
Wall. In the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem,
Professor Nahum Avigad discovered the remains
of a huge wall (the preserved portion is over 200
feet long, 21 feet thick, and 10 feet high). This wall
was built on top of houses that had been destroyed
— as 22:10 says of Hezekiah: “You counted the
buildings in Jerusalem and tore down houses to
strengthen the wall.”
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Shebna’s
Tomb. The tomb of Shebna, mentioned invv. 15—
25, may have been found east of the old ancient
core of Jerusalem by Charles Clermont-Ganneau in
1870. The inscription on this tomb, situated in the
village of Silwan, as translated by Professor
Avigad reads (partially restored): “This is [the
tomb of Shebna ] — -yahu who is over the house. . . .
Cursed be the man who will open this.” The same
title “who is over the house” is used of Shebna in
Isaiah 22: 15.
Isa. 23 TYRE
Tyre had for centuries been the maritime center of
the world’s commerce. It had planted colonies all
around the Mediterranean. The grain of Egypt was
one of the principal commodities in which it
traded. It suffered terribly at the hands of the
Assyrians, who had recently extended their sway
over Babylon (v. 13). Tyre’s overthrow, its status
as a forgotten city for 70 years, and its restoration
are here predicted (vv. 14-18). This is thought to
refer to its subjugation by Nebuchadnezzar. (See
further under Ezekiel 26-28.)
Isa. 24 WORLD CONVULSIONS
This vision seems to relate to the same period that
Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24. It delineates the
fearful calamities under which the earth, with all
its castes, occupations, and social distinctions,
shall pass away. As Jeremiah said of Babylon that
it would “sink to rise no more” (Jeremiah 51:64),
so Isaiah here says of the earth (v. 20). He seems
to be predicting the destruction of the earth as
further described in 2 Peter 3:7, 10-13 and
Revelation 20. Later he looks beyond to “new
heavens and a new earth” (65:17-66:24;
Revelation 21: 1).
Isa. 25 THE ABOLITION OF
DEATH
Here Isaiah has transported himself beyond the
crash of worlds into the age of the new heavens
and new earth, and he puts into the mouth of the
redeemed a song of praise to God for His
wonderful works. He also describes a feast of rich
food for all the peoples (v. 6) and the most
wonderful of events — the destruction of death and
the wiping away of all tears (v. 8). Some interpret
these verses as referring to Jesus’ death and
resurrection. However, it seems more likely that
they describe the great marriage supper of the
Lamb yet to come (Revelation 19:7-9; Matthew
22:4). The feast, further described in Revelation
19, is followed by the casting of the beast and the
false prophet into the lake of fire. This is called the
“second death” (Revelation 20: 14).
As further evidence that Isaiah is speaking of
an event yet to occur, we note that he is describing
an event that “wipes away the tears from all
faces.” We know that Isaiah is not referring to
Jesus’ death and resurrection because today we
still experience suffering and tears on earth. The
event that Isaiah is describing has clearly not taken
place yet. John tells us in Revelation 20 that after
the second death we will live with Christ in the
New Jerusalem and that “God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying neither shall there
be any more pain: for the former things are passed
away” (Revelation 21:4 KJV).
The mention of Moab (v. 10) illustrates
Isaiah’s mental habit of abrupt transition back and
forth between future glory and present local
circumstance. The fate of Moab, constant rival and
recurrent enemy of Judah, may be used here as
typical of the fate of Zion’s enemies generally.
Isa. 26 A SONG OF TRUST AND
TRIUMPH
A continuation of the song of the preceding chapter.
The “strong city” (v. 1), with God’s salvation as its
protection, stands in contrast to the “lofty city” (v.
5), the stronghold of the wicked. The grandest
verse in the chapter is verse 19: the resurrection of
God’s people. “The earth will disclose the blood
shed upon her” (v. 21) in the day of judgment,
when man’s long reign of wickedness shall be
ended.
Isa. 27 REVIVAL OF GOD’S
VINEYARD
In 5:1-7 Isaiah sang the funeral dirge for God’s
vineyard. Here it is a joy-song of the vineyard
coming to life again. Israel will blossom again and
be fruitful. God will slay Leviathan and the
monster of the sea (v. 1), possibly meaning Assyria
and Egypt (see also v. 12). The sea monster or
dragon (KJV) is a symbolic reference to Satan,
used also in Revelation 20. God will send
corrective judgments on Judah (vv. 7-11), but in
the end, all Israel will be gathered in Jerusalem in
worship (vv. 12-13).
In that day (vv. 1-2, 12-13): Isaiah uses this
phrase no fewer than 43 times in the book, 42 of
which are in the first 3 1 chapters. We might almost
call “that day” the subject of the book, mixed with
references to Isaiah’s own day.
Isa. 28 DENUNCIATION OF
SAMARIA AND JERUSALEM
Back from visions of “that day,” Isaiah sternly
warns his own people, who were given over to
sensual indulgence, of impending calamity, as in
chapter 22. This evidently was before the fall of
Samaria in 721 B.c.
Glorious beauty (v. 1): Samaria, capital of the
northern kingdom, was situated on a rounded hill,
in a rich and beautiful valley, crowned with
luxurious palaces and gardens.
Powerful and strong (v. 2): the Assyrian
power, which took Samaria after a three-year siege
but was turned back at the gate of Jerusalem (v. 6).
The scoffing revelers called Isaiah’s warnings
childish (vv. 9-10). Isaiah’s reply (vv. 11-13) is
that they will find Assyrian bondage as
monotonous as his warnings. Hezekiah was a good
king, but many of the powerful nobles in his
government scorned both Isaiah and Jehovah (vv.
14-22) and were relying on their own power and
Egypt.
Covenant with death (v. 15): their scornful
boast of security.
The cornerstone (v. 16) is God’s promise to
David, on which they should have relied. This is a
messianic prophecy. Isaiah refers several times to
Christ as a rock or cornerstone (see 8:14; 17:10).
Justice and righteous (v. 17) will be the
standards that God uses to judge His people. Hail
is often associated with God’s judgment (v. 2;
30:30; 32:19; Ezekiel 38:22; Revelation 8:7;
11:19). It is interesting to note that stoning was the
ordinary form of punishment prescribed by
Hebrew law. It was the penalty for blasphemy
(Leviticus 24:16), idolatry (Deuteronomy 13:6—
10), desecration of the Sabbath (Numbers 15: 32-
36), human sacrifice (Leviticus 20:2), and
occultism (Leviticus 20:27).
God’s strange work (v. 21) is His punishment
of His own people by the sword of foreigners. The
import of vv. 23-29 seems to be that for all things
there is a time and a season: God does what is
necessary at a given time. He sows and reaps, and
His people must pay attention rather than presume
that God will always protect them, regardless of
what they do.
Isa. 29 THE IMMINENT SIEGE
OF JERUSALEM
Ariel (v. 1) is a name for Jerusalem meaning “the
Lion of God,” defiantly holding the Assyrian army
at bay. The besieging army, composed of soldiers
of many nations, will be suddenly overwhelmed
(vv. 5-8), which is what happened shortly
thereafter (37:36). Zion’s blindness to her God:
they render lip service (vv. 9-16) but substitute
commandments of men for the Word of God. Jesus
quoted this as applicable to the Pharisees of His
day. We see it applicable to churches in our day as
well.
Wonder upon wonder (v. 14) refers to the
miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem (37:36).
Field and forest will change places (vv. 17-24);
this difficult language may be a hint of the day
when Gentiles would be grafted in with the people
of God (Romans 11).
Isa. 30 JUDAH’S DEPENDENCE
ON EGYPT
Caravans laden with rich presents from Jerusalem
make their way through the Negev, the desert of the
south that is full of wild beasts, to seek the aid of
Egypt (vv. 6-7). Judah will go into exile (vv. 8-
17), and Egypt will be of no help. Write it down in
a book that Judah shall be broken, so that future
generations may see that it was foretold. It
happened 100 years later, at the hands of Babylon.
Very shortly the Assyrian army was routed (37:36),
and within 100 years the Assyrian Empire was
destroyed.
Isa. 31 GOD’S PROMISE OF
DELIVERANCE
Isaiah asserts his confidence in the triumphant
outcome of Zion’s crisis with Assyria (37:36); this
coming event seems to be the background of almost
every verse in this chapter.
Isa. 32 MESSIAH’S REIGN
As Isaiah is thinking of the joyous aftermath of
Zion’s deliverance from the Assyrian army and the
vastly increased prestige of Hezekiah’s kingdom
that resulted, there comes in the line of his distant
vision a picture of David’s future King — to whom
all Old Testament prophecy pointed and toward
whom all Old Testament history moved, under
whose righteous and blessed reign persons and
things will stand in their true light and be called by
their right names. It is difficult to see the
connection between vv. 1-8 and Isaiah’s speech to
the “complacent women” (vv. 9-15). There must
have been a group of influential, godless women at
the court who had set themselves against
everything that Isaiah stood for (3:12, 16-26). His
meaning here seems to be that a period of trouble
is to intervene between the defeat of the Assyrian
army and the reign of the Messiah.
The forest (v. 19) is the Assyrian army. The
city (v. 19) is Nineveh, or the centralized forces of
evil in the latter days.
Sowing by every stream (v. 20): patiently
continuing to do daily tasks as an expression of
trust in God, while waiting for the happy era of
restored prosperity.
Isa. 33 JUST BEFORE THE
BATTLE
Chapters 28-33 belong to the terrifying days of the
Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, as told in chapters
36-37. Sennacherib’s army was pillaging cities
and ravaging the countryside (vv. 8-9). The people
were panic-stricken (vv. 13-14). Through it all,
Isaiah goes calmly about, assuring the people that
God will smite the enemy with terror and that they
shall flee, leaving behind their plunder, or loot (vv.
3-4). God Himself protects Jerusalem like an
encircling stream in which the enemy’s
disintegrating ships will sink (vv. 21-23; see
chapters 36-37.)
Isa. 34 GOD’S WRATH ON THE
NATIONS
Like chapter 24, this chapter seems to be a vision
of the end time. Edom is used as a typical example
of God’s wrath. Once populous and fertile, it is
now one of the most desolate regions on earth,
inhabited mainly by wild beasts, birds, and
reptiles (vv. 10-15; see under Obadiah 16-17).
Isaiah challenges future ages to note his words
about Edom.
Isa. 35 THE JOY OF THE
REDEEMED
One of the greatest chapters in the Bible. A poem
of rare and superb beauty. It presents a picture of
the last times, when the redeemed, after long
suffering, finally shine forth in all the radiance of
their heavenly glory. Returning exiles traveling
along the highway (vv. 8-10) offer a marvelous
image of the redeemed traveling home to God.
Isa. 36-37 THE ASSYRIAN
ARMY OVERTHROWN
The defeat of the Assyrian army is recorded three
times: here, in 2 Kings 18-19, and in 2 Chronicles
32. It is one of the most astounding miracles of the
Old Testament. In one night the Assyrian army is
destroyed by direct divine intervention (37:36).
This is the grand climax of which Isaiah had given
repeated assurance: 10:24-34; 17:12-14; 29:5-8,
14; 30:27-33; 31:4-9; 33:3-4, 21-23; 38:6.
Sennacherib invaded Judah in 701 B.c, He
boasts of capturing 46 strong, walled cities at that
time and of having shut Hezekiah up in Jerusalem
“like a bird in a cage.” However, Sennacherib’s
texts do not speak of the capture of Jerusalem, and
indeed, it appears that God answered Hezekiah’s
prayer, for after 185,000 of his troops were killed,
Sennacherib returned to Assyria, and Jerusalem
was thus delivered. Revelation 16:14; 19:19; and
20:8 describe another time when all the world’s
mightiest armies will be gathered together to battle
God. Once again, God will destroy them in an
instant just as He destroyed the Assyrian army.
i l
Isa. 38-39 HEZEKIAH’S
SICKNESS. BABYLON’S
HERALDS
Hezekiah’s sickness occurred around 703 B.c., 15
years before his death (38:5). The deliverance
from Assyria was still in the future (38:6).
Hezekiah’s miraculous recovery had created
interest in Babylon (2 Chronicles 32:31; Isaiah
38:7-8). The visit of the Babylonian envoys to
Jerusalem must have looked suspicious to
Sennacherib and may have hastened his invasion.
Magnificent Rhapsodies of the
Future, Isaiah 40 to 66
Isaiah spent his life under the threatening shadow
of the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians had
destroyed the northern portion of Israel in 733 B.c.
and the rest of the northern kingdom, including
Samaria, in 722 B.c. They had invaded Judah in
712 B.c, and by 701 B.c, had taken all of Judah
except Jerusalem Throughout these years Isaiah
had steadfastly predicted that Jerusalem would
stand. It did stand. This was the grand achievement
of Isaiah’s life. God had saved his city when doom
seemed certain. But now, with the Assyrian crisis
past, Isaiah, who had already prophesied that
Jerusalem would later fall to Babylon (39:6-7),
assumes that the Babylonian exile is an
accomplished fact and in his mind’s eye takes his
stand with the exiles. So clear were some of his
visions that in them he speaks of the future as if it
were already past.
Two Isaiahs?
Nowhere in the book itself, or in the Bible, or
in Jewish or Christian tradition is there any
mention, or even a hint, of two authors. A
“second Isaiah” is the creation of modern
biblical criticism. The book of Isaiah in our
Bible, and in Jesus’ day, is one book, not two.
It is not a patchwork, but from beginning to
end is characterized by unity of thought, set
forth in sublime language that makes it one of
the grandest works ever written. There was
just one Isaiah, and notwithstanding the
critics, this is his book.
Isa. 40 VOICES OF COMFORT
Some of the sentences seem to be utterances of
angels, who cry to Isaiah, or to each other, in
exultation over the wondrous things in store for
God’s people when the long night of suffering is
past. The advent of Christ is the subject of w. 1-
1 1 . Verses 3-5 are quoted in all four Gospels as
referring to His arrival on earth (Matthew 3:3;
Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6; John 1:23). Mention, in this
connection, of God’s Word as eternally
impregnable (vv. 6-8) means that God’s prophetic
promises cannot fail — Christ and heaven are sure.
The infinite power of God, and the eternal youth of
those who trust Him, form the subject matter of vv.
12-3 1 . It is a grand chapter.
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
— Isaiah 40:11
Isa. 41 THE RISE OF CYRUS
Cyrus is not named here, but he is named later, in
44:28 and 45:1, and unmistakably is the “one from
the east” (v. 2) and the “one from the north” (v. 25;
armies from the east always entered Palestine from
the north, since they had to follow the Euphrates
River). Isaiah died 150 years before the days of
Cyrus, yet here is a vision of Cyrus’s rapid
conquest of the world, which is ascribed to the
providence of God (v. 4). God promises protection
for Israel (vv. 8-20) and then challenges the gods
of the nations to show their ability to predict the
future (vv. 21-29; see under chapter 44).
Isa. 42 THE SERVANT OF THE
LORD
Another vision of the coming Messiah and His
work (vv. 1-17); it is quoted as such in Matthew
12:17-21. But in vv. 18-25, the Lord’s servant is
the nation Israel, who had to be corrected over and
over for its failure to follow God.
Isa. 43 GOD’S CARE OF ISRAEL
God had formed the nation for Himself. The nation
had been consistently disobedient. Still, they were
God’s nation, and through all their sins and
sufferings God would work to demonstrate to all
the world that He, and He alone, is God.
Isa. 44-45 CYRUS
These two chapters are a prediction of Israel’s
return from exile under Cyrus, with special
emphasis on God’s unique power to predict the
future. Cyrus, king of Persia, reigned 539-530 B.c.
He permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem and
issued a decree authorizing the rebuilding of the
temple (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4).
Isaiah prophesied in 745-695 B.c,, more than 150
years before the days of Cyrus. Yet he calls him by
name and predicts that he will rebuild the temple,
which in Isaiah’s day had not even been destroyed
yet.
The main point of these two chapters is that
God’s superiority over idols is proven by His
ability to foretell the future, an idea that recurs
throughout chapters 40-48 (41:21-24; 42:8-9;
43:9-13; 44:6-8; 45:20-21; 46:9-11; 48:3-7).
The calling of Cyrus by name long before he was
born is given as an example of God’s power to
know (and direct) the future (45:4-6). If this is not
a prediction, it does not even make sense in the
connection in which it is used. Critics who assign
these chapters to post-exilic authorship have
strange ideas of contextual unity.
One of Isaiah’s foremost theses was that
predictive prophecy is an evidence of deity. He
was very fond of ridiculing idols and idol-
worshipers — these gods that the nations worship
cannot even do what human beings can do: they
cannot see, nor speak, nor hear. But, says Isaiah,
our God, whom we worship in our Hebrew nation,
not only can do what human beings can do, He can
do some things that they cannot do: He can foretell
things to come. Then Isaiah invites a conference of
nations, where they can all compare their gods, and
asks if any nation has in its literature ancient
predictions of things that happened later. We have,
he says, in our national literature, going back way
into the past, a continuous stream of predictions of
things that afterward came true.
Isa. 46-48 THE FALL OF
BABYLON
God declares, “I am God, and there is no other. . . .
I make known the end from the beginning, from
ancient times, what is still to come” (46:9-10).
From the earliest chapters of Genesis, God’s Word
unveils the entire story. Beyond the heartbreaking
tragedy of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden,
God can see the joyous celebration of Revelation
21 and 22. And in Revelation 22: 13, God declares,
“I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End.”
A continuation of chapters 13-14. Babylon’s
many idols, sorcerers, and astrologers would be of
no avail against the armies of Cyrus (47:12-15).
Instead, the golden images of her vaunted gods,
helpless to save not only their city but even
themselves, would be hauled away as loot on
beasts and in wagons (46:1-2). Isaiah reiterates
again God’s exclusive and unique power to predict
and control the course of history. It is a solemn
restatement of the prediction of the fall of Babylon
at the hands of Cyrus, and of the deliverance of the
Jews.
The Lord’s chosen ally (48: 14), that is, Cyrus,
who was a singularly noble and just monarch.
Isa. 49-50 THE SERVANT OF
JEHOVAH
In the preceding chapters (40-48), a leading idea
was that God’s predictions of the future are
evidence of His deity.
In chapters 49-55, the thoughts revolve around
the Servant of God. In some passages the servant
seems to be the nation Israel, and in other passages
the Messiah, the One in whom Israel would be
personified. The passages are pretty well blended
so that the context must indicate which is meant.
It is a resumption of thoughts that have been
accumulating (41:8; 42:1, 19; 43:10; 44:1-2, 21;
49:3-6; 52:13; 53:11).
These chapters seem to be a sort of soliloquy
of the Servant, with interspersed replies from God,
having to do mainly with the Servant’s work of
bringing all nations to God.
Isa. 51-52 ZION’S REDEMPTION
AND RESTORATION
Israel’s release from the sufferings of the exile is
as certain as God’s wondrous works of the past. It
is a part of God’s eternal plan, to build from one
pair, Abraham and Sarah (51:2), a redeemed
world of endless glory (51:6). Chapter 52 is a
song of the day of Zion’s triumph.
Isa. 53 JEHOVAH’S SERVANT A
MAN OF SORROWS
One of the best-loved chapters in all the Bible. It is
a picture of the suffering Savior. It begins at 52: 13
and is so vivid in detail that one would almost
think of Isaiah as standing at the foot of the cross. It
is so clear in his mind that he speaks of it in the
past tense, as if it had already happened. Yet it was
written seven centuries before Jesus’ death on
Calvary. It cannot possibly fit any person in history
other than Christ.
A Summary of Isaiah’s
Predictions
Fulfilled in His Own Lifetime
• Judah will be delivered from Syria and
Israel (7:4-7, 16)
• Syria and Israel will be destroyed by
Assyria (8:4; 17:1-14)
• Assyria will invade Judah (8:7-8)
• Philistines will be subjugated (14:28-32)
• Moab will be plundered (15 and 16)
• Egypt and Ethiopia will be conquered by
Assyria (20:4)
• Arabia will be pillaged (21:13-17)
• Tyre will be subdued (23:1-12)
• Jerusalem will be delivered from Assyria
(see under 36)
• Hezekiah’s life will be extended 15 years
(38:5)
Fulfilled After Isaiah’s Time
• Babylonian captivity (39:5-7)
• Babylon will be overthrown by Cyrus
(46:11)
• And the Medes and Elamites (13:17;
21:2; 48:14)
• Babylon’s perpetual desolation (13:20-
22 )
• Cyrus called by name (44:28; 45:1, 4)
• Cyrus’s conquest of the world (41:2-3)
• Cyrus will liberate the captives (45:13)
• Cyrus will rebuild Jerusalem (44:28;
45:13)
• Israel will be restored (27:12-13; 48:20;
51:14)
• Israel’s religion will permeate Egypt and
Assyria (19:18-25)
• Israel’s religion will spread over the
whole world (27:2-6)
• Tyre’s captivity and restoration (23:13-
18)
• Edom’s perpetual desolation (34:5-17)
About the Messiah
• His advent (40:3-5)
• His virgin birth (7:14)
• Galilee will be the scene of His ministry
(9:1-2)
• His deity and the eternity of His throne
(9:6-7)
• His sufferings (53)
• He will die with the wicked (53:9)
• He will be buried with the rich (53:9)
• The might and gentleness of His reign
(40:10-11)
• The righteousness and blessings of His
reign (32:1-8; 61:1-3)
• His justice and kindness (42:3-4, 7)
• His rule over Gentiles (2:2-3; 42:1, 6;
49:6; 55:4-5; 56:6; 60:3-5)
• His vast influence (49:7, 23)
• Idols will disappear (2:18)
• A warless world will be brought into being
(2:4; 65:25)
• The earth will be destroyed (24; 26:21;
34:1-4)
• Death will be destroyed (25:8; 26:19)
• God’s people will be called by a new
name (62:2; 65:15)
• A new heaven and a new earth will be
created (65:17; 66:22)
• The righteous and the wicked will be
eternally separated (66:15, 22-24)
Isa. 54-55 ZION’S VAST
EXPANSION
The Servant of God, by virtue of His suffering,
would rejuvenate Zion and lead Zion onward and
upward to heights of endless glory. Chapter 55 is
the Servant’s invitation to all the world to enter
His kingdom and share His blessings.
Isa. 56-59 SINS OF ISAIAH’S
DAY
The sins of Isaiah’s day — the profaning of the
Sabbath, the gluttony of Israel’s leaders, the
widespread idolatry with its vile practices, the
punctilious fasting while practicing flagrant
injustice — are all surely to be avenged.
Isa. 60-62 ZION’S REDEEMER
A song of the Messianic Age, beginning at 59:20,
picturing an era of world evangelization, blending
into the eternal glory of heaven. Chapter 60 is one
of the grandest chapters of the Bible. It speaks of
how the Gentiles will bless Zion. Jesus quoted
61 : 1-3 as referring to Himself (Luke 4:18).
Zion will receive a new name (62:2), and
God’s servants will be called by another name
(65:15). Until the corning of Christ, God’s people
were known as Jews, or Hebrews. After that they
were called Christians. But “another name” may
also refer to a new identity or nature, rather than to
merely a new label. In Revelation 21:2, John
describes one of the high points of his vision: “I
saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
beautifully dressed for her husband.” This same
wedding imagery is used by Isaiah (62:5).
A crown of splendor (62:3) is what the
redeemed are to God. Although the visible church
has been corrupted at the hands of people and has
often been anything but a “crown of splendor,” yet
it is true of the body of God’s faithful saints.
Throughout eternity they will be God’s delight and
joy (vv. 3-5).
Isa. 63-64 THE EXILES’ PRAYER
It is a bit puzzling to see Edom mentioned here
(63:1-6). These two chapters, except for the first
six verses, are in the nature of a prayer to God to
liberate exiled Israel. The Edomites, age-old
enemies of Judah, had allied themselves with the
Babylonians in destroying Jerusalem (see under
Obadiah), and may here be meant to symbolize all
the enemies of God’s people. The bloodstained
warrior, trampling Edom in his wrath, “mighty to
save” Zion (63:1), is identical with Zion’s
Redeemer of the preceding three chapters. The
language seems to be the basis for the imagery of
the Lord’s corning in Revelation 14 and 19:11-16.
Isa. 65-66 THE NEW HEAVENS
AND NEW EARTH
These two chapters are God’s answer to the exiles’
prayer of the previous two chapters. The prayer
shall be answered. The faithful remnant shall be
restored (65:8-10). New nations shall be brought
into the fold (65:1; 66:8). All shall be called by a
new name (65:15). They shall inherit new heavens
and a new earth (65:17; 66:22). The faithful and
the disobedient shall be forever separated, with
eternal blessedness for the righteous ones, eternal
punishment for the others (66:22-24). Jesus
Himself endorsed these words (Mark 9:48).
Peter’s closing message to Christians was to keep
their eyes on the new heavens and the new earth (2
Peter 3:10-14). The Bible reaches its final climax
in a magnificent vision of the new heavens and the
new earth in Revelation 21-22, which is an
expansion of the vision of Isaiah 66. No temple or
sacrifice, it seems, will be needed in the new
order (66: 1-4), because “now the dwelling of God
is with men, and he will live with them”
(Revelation 2 1:3).
Jeremiah
God’s Final Effort to Save Jerusalem
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?
— Jeremiah 8:22
The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
— Jeremiah 17:9
(For the last kings of Judah, see the chapter on 2
Chronicles .)
Jeremiah lived about 100 years after the
prophet Isaiah. Isaiah had saved Jerusalem from
Assyria. Jeremiah tried to save Jerusalem from
Babylon, but failed.
Jeremiah lived through 40 terrible years. He
was called to be a prophet in 626 B.c, Twenty
years later, in 605 B.c,, Jerusalem was partly
destroyed. It was further ruined in 597 B.c,, and
finally burned to the ground in 586 B.c, Jeremiah
experienced the end of the monarchy, the final
agony of the nation of Judah. He was a pathetic,
lonely figure, who was God’s final appeal to the
Holy City, which had become hopelessly and
fanatically attached to idols. Jeremiah cried out
that if only they would repent, God would save
them from Babylon.
As Assyria had been the background of Isaiah’s
ministry 150 years earlier, so Babylonia was the
backdrop of Jeremiah’s ministry.
The Internal Situation
The northern kingdom, Israel, had fallen, as had
much of Judah, the southern kingdom, which had
suffered reverse after reverse, until Jerusalem was
all that was left of the once great kingdom of David
and Solomon. But still the people of Jerusalem
ignored the continued warnings of the prophets and
grew more and more hardened in their idolatry and
wickedness. The hour of doom was about to strike.
The International Situation
A three-cornered contest for world supremacy was
going on between Assyria, Babylonia, and Egypt.
For 300 years Assyria, in the northern Euphrates
valley, with Nineveh as its capital, had ruled the
world; but now it was growing weak. Babylonia,
in the southern Euphrates valley, was becoming
powerful. Egypt, in the Nile valley, which 1000
years before had been a world power, was again
becoming ambitious. At about the midpoint of
Jeremiah’s ministry, Babylonia won the contest. It
broke the power of Assyria (610 B.c.) and a few
years later crushed Egypt in the battle of
Carchemish (605 B.c.). For 70 years Babylonia
ruled the world — the same 70 years as those of the
exile (or Babylonian captivity) of the Jewish
people.
“The time is coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah. . . .
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. . . .
“I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more. ”
— Jeremiah 31:31, 33-34
Jeremiah’s Message
From the beginning of his ministry, 20 years before
the issue was settled, Jeremiah insisted that
Babylonia would be the victor. All through his
incessant and bitter complaints over Judah’s
wickedness, the following ideas recur again and
again:
1 . Judah is going to be destroyed by victorious
Babylonia.
2. If Judah will turn from her wickedness,
somehow God will save her from destruction
at the hands of Babylon.
3. Later, when there no longer seemed to be any
hope of Judah’s repentance, came a message
of renewed hope: if Judah, as a matter of
political expediency, will submit to Babylon,
she shall be spared.
4. Judah will be destroyed, but she shall recover
and yet dominate the world.
5. Babylon, the destroyer of Judah, shall herself
be destroyed, never to rise again.
Jeremiah’s Boldness
Jeremiah unceasingly advised Jerusalem to
surrender to the king of Babylon, so much so that
his enemies accused him of being a traitor.
Nebuchadnezzar rewarded him for giving this
advice to his people: he not only spared his life but
also offered him any honor he would accept, even
a place of honor in the court at Babylon (39:12).
But Jeremiah cried aloud, over and over, that the
king of Babylon was committing a heinous crime in
destroying the Lord’s people, and because of this
crime Babylon itself would be destroyed and
abandoned forever (see chapters 50-51).
The Chronology of Jeremiah’s Book
Some of Jeremiah’s messages are dated. Dates are
found in the following verses:
• In Josiah’s reign: 1:2; 3:6.
• In Jehoiakim’s reign: 22:18; 25:1; 26:1; 35:1;
36:1; 45:1.
• In Zedekiah’s reign: 21:1; 24:1, 8; 27:3, 12;
28:1; 29:3; 32:1; 34:2; 37:1; 38:5; 39:1;
49:34; 51:59.
• In Egypt: 43:7, 8; 44:1.
This quickly shows that the book is not
arranged in chronological order. Some late
messages come early in the book, and some early
messages come late in the book. These messages
were delivered orally, and perhaps repeatedly, for
years, possibly before Jeremiah began to write
them. The writing of such a book was a long and
laborious task. Parchment, made of sheep or goat
skins, was scarce and expensive. It was made into
a long roll and wound around a stick. This may, in
part, account for the lack of order in Jeremiah’s
book. After writing an incident or discourse, some
other utterance delivered previously would be
suggested, and he would write it down, in some
cases without dating it, thus filling up the
parchment as he unrolled it.
Contemporary Prophets
• Jeremiah was the leader among the
brilliant constellation of prophets
clustered around the destruction of
Jerusalem.
• Ezekiel, a fellow priest, somewhat
younger than Jeremiah, preached in
Babylonia among the captives the same
things that Jeremiah was preaching in
Jerusalem.
• Daniel, a man of royal blood, held the
line in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar.
• Habakkuk and Zephaniah helped
Jeremiah in Jerusalem.
• Nahum, at the same time, was predicting
the fall of Nineveh.
• Obadiah, at the same time, predicted
the ruin of Edom.
Jer. 1 THE CALL OF JEREMIAH
Jeremiah was called to a hard and thankless task.
Like Moses (Exodus 3:11; 4:10), he was reluctant
to accept the responsibility. The call came when he
was “only a child,” probably about 20.
Anathoth (v. 1), his home, was about 2 1/2
miles northeast of Jerusalem; it is now called
Anata.
The boiling pot (v. 13; K.JY caldron) is the
Babylonian army. The first message Jeremiah has
to deliver is that Jerusalem will be destroyed by
Babylonia (v. 14).
THE CONTEMPORARY
KINGS OF JUDAH
Manasseh (698-644 B.c.) Reigned 55 years.
Very wicked (see under 2 Chronicles 33).
Jeremiah was born during his reign.
Amon (643-640 B.c.) Reigned 2 years. The
long and wicked reign of his father Manasseh
had sealed the doom of Judah.
Josiah (640-609 B.c.) Reigned 31 years. A
good king, under whom a great reformation
took place. Jeremiah began his ministry in
Josiah’s 13th year. But the reformation had
only outward effect; at heart the people were
still idolaters.
Jehoahaz (609 B.c.) Reigned 3 months. Was
taken to Egypt.
Jehoiakim (609-598 B.c.) Reigned 11 years.
Openly supported idol worship. Boldly
defiant of God and a bitter enemy of
Jeremiah.
Jehoiachin (598-597 b.c.) Reigned 3
months. Was taken to Babylon.
Zedekiah (597-586 b.c.) Reigned 11 years.
Rather friendly toward Jeremiah, but a weak
king; a tool in the hands of his wicked
officials.
Jer. 2 ISRAEL’S APOSTASY
In an impassioned rebuke for their shameless
idolatry, Israel is compared to a wife who has left
her husband for other men, turning herself into a
common prostitute.
Jer. 3 JUDAH WORSE THAN
ISRAEL
In chapter 2, “Israel” means the whole nation. In
this chapter it means the northern kingdom, which
300 years before had split off from Judah and
which had been taken away by the Assyrians a
century ago. Judah, blind to the significance of
Israel’s fall, not only did not repent, but under the
wicked reign of Manasseh sunk to lower and lower
depths of depravity. The reunion of Judah and
Israel is predicted (vv. 17-18; also 50:4-5; Hosea
1:11). Again the metaphor of an adulterous wife (v.
20 ).
Jer. 4 THE APPROACHING
DESOLATION OF JUDAH
This chapter describes the advance of the
Babylonian armies that destroyed Jerusalem (605-
586 B.c.). For some time it was thought that Judah
suffered a Scythian invasion shortly before that of
the Babylonians. But the passages in Jeremiah on
the enemy “from the north” fit much better what is
known of the Babylonians than of the wild
Scythians from the Caucaus region: the reference to
“an ancient and enduring nation” (5:15); the use of
“chariots” (4:13); the army’s capture of “cities of
Judah” (4:16; 6:6); their battle array in regular
ranks (6:23); their love of Jerusalem (4:30). The
Babylonians did indeed come to Judah from the
north (see map: The Three Returns ).
THE CHRONOLOGY OF
JEREMIAH’S TIMES
628 B.c. Josiah begins his reforms (see on 2
Chronicles 34).
626 B.c, Jeremiah is called by God.
622 b.c. The Book of the Law is found.
Josiah’s great reformation (2 Kings 22-23).
609 B.c. Josiah is slain at Megiddo by
Pharaoh.
612 B.c. Nineveh is destroyed by Babylonia.
605 B.c. Judah is subdued by Babylonia. The
first captivity.
605 B.c. Battle of Carchemish: Babylon
crushes Egypt.
597 B.c, Jehoiachin is taken prisoner.
593 B.c, Zedekiah visits Babylon.
(?)
586 B.c. Jerusalem is burned. The temporary
end of David’s kingdom.
Jer. 5 UNIVERSAL DEPRAVITY
OF JUDAH
Had there been one righteous man, God would
have spared the city (v. 1). They indulge in
promiscuous sex like animals (vv. 7-8). They scoff
at the prophet’s warnings (v. 12). Their lifestyle is
one of deceit, oppression, and robbery (vv. 26-
28). The people actually love the religious and
political rottenness in which they live (vv. 30-31;
for a note on false prophets [v. 30], see under
chapter 23).
Jer. 6 DESTRUCTION FROM THE
NORTH
A vivid prophetic description of the destruction of
Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian invaders
(vv. 22-26), which became a horrible reality in
Jeremiah’s own lifetime. Over and over (vv. 16-
19) he warns, with pathetic insistence, that
repentance is their last possible chance to escape
ruin.
Jer. 7 REPENTANCE THEIR
ONLY HOPE
This is one of Jeremiah’s heartrending appeals for
repentance, based on God’s amazing promise that
if only the people would listen to their God,
Jerusalem would never fall (vv. 5-7). With all
their abominable practices (vv. 9, 31), and even
though they had put idols in the temple (v. 30), they
still had a superstitious regard for the temple and
its services. They seemed to think that, come what
may, God would not let Jerusalem be destroyed
because His temple was there (vv. 4, 10).
The Queen of Heaven (v. 18) is Ashtoreth, the
principal female Canaanite deity, whose worship
was accompanied by the most degrading forms of
immorality.
The Valley of Ben Hinnom (vv. 31-32) is the
valley on the south side of Jerusalem. It was used
as a trash dump and also as the place where
children were burnt as sacrifices to the god
Molech. (From the name Valley of Hinnom,
ge 'hinnom, was later derived from the Greek name
used for hell in the New Testament, gehenna .)
Jer. 8 “THE HARVEST IS PAST”
Fully conscious of the futility of his appeals and
rebukes, Jeremiah speaks of the impending
desolation of Judah as if it were already
accomplished (v. 20). The insistence of the false
prophets (vv. 10-11) that Jerusalem was in no
danger constituted one of Jeremiah’s most difficult
problems (see under chapter 23).
Jer. 9 THE BROKENHEARTED
PROPHET
Jeremiah, a man of sorrows, in the midst of a
people abandoned to everything vile (8:6; 9:2-9),
wept day and night at the thought of the frightful,
impending retribution. He moved among them,
begging, pleading, persuading, threatening,
entreating, imploring that they turn from their
wickedness. But in vain.
Jer. 10 JEHOVAH THE TRUE
GOD
It seems that the threat of Babylonian invasion
spurred the people of Judah to great activity in the
manufacture of idols — as if idols could save them.
This gave Jeremiah occasion to remind them that
what they were doing, rather than helping them.
was in fact a further aggravation of their already
appalling sin against God.
Jer. 11 THE BROKEN
COVENANT
This chapter seems to belong to the period of
reaction, after Josiah’s great reformation (told in 2
Kings 23), when the people had restored their
idols. Their response to Jeremiah’s rebuke was to
plot his death (9:21).
Jer. 12 JEREMIAH’S
COMPLAINT
Contrasting his own sufferings with the apparent
prosperity of those against whom he was
preaching, and who were ridiculing his threats (v.
4), Jeremiah complains of the ways of God. But
there is no security in prosperity — Jeremiah’s
opponents will be uprooted (v. 14). Then God
gives the promise of future restoration (vv. 15-17).
Jer. 13 THE RUINED BELT
Jeremiah made considerable use of symbols in his
preaching (see on 19:1). The linen belt (KJ\(
girdle) was probably richly decorated, a
conspicuous part of Jeremiah’s dress as he walked
about the streets of Jerusalem. Later, rotted,
ragged, and dirty, it served again to attract attention
— of a different kind. As curious crowds gathered
around the prophet, it gave him occasion to explain
that Judah, with whom Jehovah had clothed
Himself to walk among people, once beautiful and
glorious, would like his belt be ruined and be good
for nothing but to be thrown away.
Jer. 14-15 JEREMIAH’S
INTERCESSION
A prolonged drought had stripped the land of food.
Jeremiah’s heart ached at seeing the people suffer,
even though they hated, ridiculed, and mocked him.
His intercession before God is as near an approach
to the spirit of Christ as is to be found anywhere in
the Old Testament.
Jer. 16 JEREMIAH FORBIDDEN
TO MARRY
In some cases, the domestic life of the prophets
was used to reinforce the message they preached.
Isaiah and Hosea were married and gave their
children names that expressed their main messages.
Jeremiah was commanded to remain single, as a
kind of symbolic backdrop to his persistent
predictions of impending bloody slaughter: what is
the use of raising a family just to be butchered in
the frightful carnage about to be loosed upon the
inhabitants of Judah? Again, God promises
restoration (vv. 14-15).
Jer. 17 JUDAH’S SIN INDELIBLE
Judah’s downfall is inevitable. Yet the promise is
held before them again and again that if only they
turn to God, Jerusalem will remain forever (vv.
24 - 25 ).
Jer. 18 THE POTTER’S CLAY
A very apt illustration of God’s power to alter the
destiny of a nation. Jeremiah used it as the basis
for another appeal to the wicked nation to amend
its ways. But again, it was in vain.
Jer. 19 THE CLAY JAR
It may have been a jar or vase of exquisite
workmanship. Being shattered in the presence of
Jerusalem’s leaders was an impressive way of
reannouncing the impending ruin of the city.
Some other symbols Jeremiah used to gain
attention to his preaching were the ruined belt
(chap. 13), abstinence from marriage (chap. 16),
the potter’s clay (chap. 18), the yoke of straps and
crossbars (chap. 27), and the purchase of a field
(chap. 32).
Jer. 20 JEREMIAH IMPRISONED
Jeremiah went from his vase-breaking rendezvous
with the leaders in the Valley of Hinnom to the
temple and began to proclaim the same message to
the people there. For this, Pashhur, one of the chief
officers of the temple, put him in prison.
Stocks (v. 2) may have consisted of a wooden
frame in which feet, neck, and hands were fastened
so as to hold the body in a distorted and painful
position. It drew from Jeremiah an outburst of
complaint against God (vv. 7-18).
Jer. 21 THE SIEGE BEGINS
This chapter belongs to the last days of Jeremiah’s
life. King Zedekiah, frightened at the approach of
the Babylonian army, appeals to Jeremiah to
intercede with God. Jeremiah advises Zedekiah to
surrender the city to the Babylonians in order to
save the people from death.
Jer. 22 WARNING TO KING
JEHOIAKIM
King of Judah in verse 2 probably refers to
Zedekiah (see 21:3, 7; compare v. 3 with 21:12),
the last Judean king, whose predecessors are
mentioned in sequence later in the chapter (Josiah,
vv. 10a, 15b— 16; Jehoahaz/Shallum, vv. 10b— 12;
Jehoiakim, vv. 13— 1 5a, 17-19; Jehoiachin/Coniah,
vv. 24-30).
Jehoiachin had children (1 Chronicles 3:17;
Matthew 1:12), but he would be as if childless —
his children would never sit on the throne (v. 30).
He and his uncle, Zedekiah, were the last earthly
kings to sit on David’s throne. It was the end of the
temporal kingdom of Judah. Yet, out of the line of
Zedekiah would come Christ, the Messiah.
Jer. 23 FALSE PROPHETS
A bitter attack on the leaders of God’s people.
Jeremiah’s stinging indictment of Davidic kings
supplies the backdrop for a vision of the coming
Davidic Messiah (23:5-8; see under chapter 33).
As for the false prophets, they were the greatest
hindrance to the acceptance of Jeremiah’s
preaching. In the name of God they delivered their
own messages: “Jeremiah is lying. We are
prophets of God, and God has told us Jerusalem is
safe.”
Jer. 24 THE TWO BASKETS OF
FIGS
The good figs represented the best of the people,
who had been taken to Babylon in Jehoiachin’s
captivity (597 B.c.) and earlier, including Ezekiel
and Daniel. The bad figs, those who had remained
in Jerusalem, intended, with the aid of Egypt, to
resist the Babylonians (2 Kings 24: 10-20).
Jer. 25 SEVENTY YEARS’
CAPTIVITY PREDICTED
This was in the early part of Jehoiakim’s reign (v.
1), about 604 B.c. The remarkable thing is that the
exact duration of Babylonia’s rule is foretold (11—
14; 29:10; 2 Chronicles 36:21; Ezra 1:1; Daniel
9:2; Zechariah 7:5). An amazing prophecy. There
was no possible way for Jeremiah to know this,
except by direct revelation from God.
Jer. 26 JEREMIAH’S TRIAL
BEFORE THE OFFICIALS OF
JUDAH
His accusers were the priests and the false
prophets. But Jeremiah had friends among the
officials, especially Ahikam, who saved him from
certain death. One of Jeremiah’s fellow prophets,
named Uriah, did not fare so well, however (vv.
20-24).
Jer. 27-28 A YOKE OF STRAPS
AND CROSSBARS
Jeremiah put a yoke, like that worn by oxen, on his
neck and walked around the city, saying, “Thus
shall Babylon put a yoke on the necks of this
people.” One of the false prophets, Hananiah, with
brazen impudence, broke the yoke (28:10); as a
punishment, he died within two months (28:1, 17).
Jer. 29 JEREMIAH’S LETTER TO
THE EXILES
Written after Jehoiachin and the cream of the
people had been taken to Babylonia. Jeremiah
advises them to be peaceful and obedient captives,
and promises that they will return to their
homeland after 70 years (v. 10). But even in
Babylonia the false prophets kept up their fight
against Jeremiah (w. 2 1-32).
Jer. 30-31 A SONG OF
RESTORATION
A song of restoration for both Israel and Judah,
with messianic foreshadowings. God commanded
that it be written (v. 2) so that later, after the events
had taken place, they could be compared with the
prophecies in this song.
The new covenant (31:31-34). The Old
Testament is the story of God’s dealings with the
Hebrew nation on the basis of the covenant given
at Mount Sinai. Here is a definite prediction that
the Mosaic covenant would be superseded by
another covenant. The displacement of the Mosaic
covenant by the new covenant in Christ is the main
thesis of the epistle to the Hebrews.
Jer. 32 JEREMIAH BUYS A
FIELD
This was the year before Jerusalem fell. The
burning of the city and the desolation of Judah
were almost at hand. Amid the gloom and despair
of the hour, Jeremiah was commanded of God to
buy a field, in public ceremony, and put away the
deed for safekeeping, to emphasize his prediction
that the captives would return and the land would
once again be cultivated.
Jer. 33 “THE BRANCH”
Most of the 20 Davidic kings who reigned over
Judah during the 400 years between David and the
Babylonian exile were very bad. Only a few were
worthy of the name of David. In chapters 22-23
Jeremiah bitterly indicts this royal dynasty to
whom God had given the promise of an eternal
throne. Here in chapter 33 he repeats with a fuller
explanation the prophecy of one great King, “the
Branch,” in whom the promise would be fulfilled.
Jer. 34 ZEDEKIAH’S
PROCLAMATION OF LIBERTY
During the siege of Jerusalem, King Zedekiah
proclaimed freedom to all slaves, evidently to gain
God’s favor; but he failed to enforce his own
proclamation.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The
“Lachish Letters.” In Jeremiah 34:7, Lachish
and Azekah are mentioned as being besieged by the
king of Babylonia. Fragments of 2 1 letters, written
during this siege, from an outpost of Lachish to the
captain of the guard who was defending Lachish,
were found in 1935.
These letters were written just before
Nebuchadnezzar launched his final attack by
kindling fires against the city walls. They were
found in a deposit of ash and charcoal on the floor
of the guardroom.
In one of the letters, the outpost says that he
was “watching for signals from Lachish,” and that
“he could see no signals from Azekah” (perhaps it
had already fallen).
Evidently the letter indicates that someone in
the Hill Country was looking for signal fires from
either Lachish or Azekah to indicate the progress
of the Babylonian advance. Such a lookout point
exists a few miles east of Lachish, at the western
edge of the hill country.
Jer. 35 THE EXAMPLE OF THE
RECABITES
The Recabites were a tribe, descended from
Recab, who are mentioned during the time of
Moses (1 Chronicles 2:55; Numbers 10:29-32;
Judges 1:16). They had adhered to their ancestor’s
command to drink no wine (2 Kings 10:15, 23) and
were held up by Jeremiah in stinging contrast to the
disobedient citizens of Jerusalem.
Jer. 36 THE KING BURNS
JEREMIAH’S BOOK
At this time Jeremiah had been prophesying for 23
years, from the 13th year of Josiah to the 4th year
of Jehoiakim. He is now commanded to gather
these prophecies into a book so that they can be
read to the people, because Jeremiah himself is not
free to speak to the people (v. 5). It took a year or
so to write the book (vv. 1,9). The reading of the
book made a profound impression on some of the
officials, but the king brazenly and defiantly burned
the book. Jeremiah then wrote it all over again.
Jer. 37-38 JEREMIAH’S
IMPRISONMENT
During the siege, when the Babylonians had
temporarily withdrawn, Jeremiah attempted to
leave the city to go to his home in Anathoth,
probably because of the scarcity of food in
Jerusalem. Because of his persistent advice to
surrender to the king of Babylon, this looked to his
enemies as if it might be an effort to join the
Babylonians. Thus he was imprisoned on suspicion
of being a traitor who worked in the interest of the
Babylonians. Zedekiah was friendly to Jeremiah,
but he was a weak king.
Jer. 39 JERUSALEM BURNED
This event is told also in chapter 52, in 2 Kings 25
(see note there), and in 2 Chronicles 36.
Nebuchadnezzar, knowing of Jeremiah’s lifelong
admonishing Jerusalem to submit to him, now
offered to confer on Jeremiah any honor that he
would accept, even a place at the Babylonian court
(11-14; 40: 1-6).
Jer. 40-41 GEDALIAH MADE
GOVERNOR
Gedaliah, whom Nebuchadnezzar appointed
governor over Judah, was the son of Ahikam,
Jeremiah’s friend (40:5; 26:24). But within three
months he was assassinated (39:2;41:1).
3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Gedaliah’s
Seal. In 1935, in the layer of ashes left by
Nebuchadnezzar’s fire when he burned Lachish, a
seal was found among the “Lachish Letters”
bearing this inscription, “Belonging to Gedaliah,
the one who is over the house.”
ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE:
Jaazaniah’s (Jezaniah’s) Seal. Mentioned in
Jeremiah 40:8 and 2 Kings 25:23, Jaazaniah was
one of Gedaliah’s army captains. In 1932, in the
ruins of Mizpah, the seat of Gedaliah’s government
(Jeremiah 40:6), an exquisite agate seal was found
with the representation of a fighting cock
inscribed, “Belonging to Jaazaniah, servant of the
king.”
Jer. 42-43 DEPARTURE FOR
EGYPT
The remnant, fearing reprisal by Nebuchadnezzar
for the slaying of Gedaliah, fled to Egypt, though
explicitly warned of God that it would mean
extinction. They took Jeremiah along.
3 C ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Tahpanhes.
The site of Tahpanhes (43:8-13) has been
identified about 10 miles west of the Suez Canal. It
was a fortress city on the northern border of Lower
Egypt that guarded the road to Syria. In 1886 Sir
Flinders Petrie uncovered the ruins of a large
castle, in front of which was a “great open
platform of brick work,” which may have been the
very place where Jeremiah hid the stones (43:8).
Nebuchadnezzar’s annals state that he did
invade Egypt in 568 B.c,, which was 18 years after
Jeremiah uttered the prophecy that he would
(43:10).
Thus, Abraham’s descendants returned to Egypt
as a defeated and hopeless remnant nearly 900
years after they had been liberated from Egypt by
God’s mighty hand in the Exodus.
Jer. 44 JEREMIAH’S FINAL
APPEAL
This last effort to induce the people to abandon
their idolatry failed. They were defiant.
Queen of Heaven (v. 17) was a Babylonian
title for Ishtar, whose worship involved acts of
immorality; the women hid themselves behind their
husbands’ consent, which was required for the
women’s religious vows to have validity (vv. 15,
19).
The place and manner of Jeremiah’s death are
not known. One tradition is that he was stoned to
death in Egypt. Another is that he was taken from
Egypt to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, along with
Baruch, his secretary, and died there.
Jer. 45 BARUCH
Baruch, Jeremiah’s secretary (scribe), was a man
of prominence, with high ambitions (v. 5). He was
recognized as having great influence with Jeremiah
(43:3). He is reminded that earthly recognition
provides only an illusion of self-worth — it dies
with the people who bestow it.
Jer. 46 EGYPT
A description of the defeat of the Egyptian army at
Carchemish (605 B.c.), in the middle period of
Jeremiah’s life (vv. 1-12); and a later prophecy
that Nebuchadnezzar will invade Egypt (vv. 13-26;
see under 43:8-13, of which these verses are an
expansion). More than a century before, Isaiah had
prophesied the Assyrian invasions of Egypt (see
under Isaiah 18-20). Ezekiel also prophesied
about Egypt (Ezekiel 19-32).
Jer. 47 THE PHILISTINES
This prophecy, foretelling the desolation of
Philistia by Babylon, was fulfilled 20 years later
when Nebuchadnezzar took Judah. Other prophets
who spoke about and against the Philistines were
Isaiah (14:28-32), Amos (1:6-8), Ezekiel (25:15-
17), Zephaniah (2:4-7), and Zechariah (9: 1-7).
Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning Memphis (46:19) came true.
About all that remains of the once-great city of Memphis in
Egypt are an alabaster sphinx and a rather shabby-looking,
giant statue of Pharaoh Rameses II.
Jer. 48 MOAB
A picture of the impending desolation of Moab.
Moab helped Nebuchadnezzar against Judah, but
later was devastated by him (582 B.c.). For
centuries the land has lain desolate and sparsely
inhabited, the ruins of its many cities testifying to
its population in ancient times. Its restoration (v.
47) and that of Ammon (49:6) may have been
fulfilled in their absorption into the general Arab
race, some of whom were present at Pentecost
when the Gospel was first proclaimed to the world
(Acts 2:11). Or it may mean that the land will yet
again be prosperous. Other prophecies about Moab
are Isaiah 15-16; Ezekiel 25:8-11; Amos 2:1-3;
and Zephani ah 2:8-11.
Jer. 49 AMMON, EDOM, SYRIA,
HAZOR, ELAM
A prediction that Nebuchadnezzar will conquer
these nations, which he did. Ammon, see under
Ezekiel 25: 1—11. Edom, see under Obadiah.
Jer. 50-51 PREDICTION OF THE
FALL OF BABYLON
The fall and permanent destruction of Babylon are
here predicted, as Isaiah had done earlier (Isaiah
13:17-22), in language matching the grandeur of
the theme (51:37-43). The Medes, at the head of a
league of nations, are named as the conquerors
(50:9; 51:11, 27-28). These two chapters,
pronouncing the doom of Babylonia, were copied
in a separate book and sent to Babylon in a
deputation headed by King Zedekiah, seven years
before Nebuchadnezzar burned Jerusalem (5 1:59—
64). The book was to be read publicly and then, in
solemn ceremony, s u nk in the Euphrates, with the
words, “So will Babylon sink to rise no more.”
Jer. 52 CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH
(SEE ON 2 KINGS 24-25.)
3 t ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Personal
Seals and Bullae. A seal was a device in which
a design or name is engraved, so that when it is
pressed into a soft substance such as clay or wax,
it will leave a permanent impression when the
substance hardens. The impression made by a seal
is called a bulla (plural bullae). Some seals were
flat; others were cylindrical and were rolled into
the wax or clay.
Seals were used as a mark of authenticity on
letters and official documents (1 Kings 21:8;
Esther 3: 12); as a means to keep a book, document,
or room from being tampered with (similar to our
“sealing” court documents or a crime scene;
Jeremiah 32: 14); as a proof of delegated authority
(Esther 3:10; 8:2); and as an official mark of
ownership, for example, on jar handles and jar
stoppers.
“Seal” is also used figuratively — for example,
in Deuteronomy 32:34; Romans 4:11; 15:28; 1
Corinthians 9:2; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30; Revelation
5:1; 7:2-4; 10:4.
Numerous seals and bullae have been found
that date back to the Old Testament era; a number
of these actually belonged to people mentioned in
the Old Testament.
The seal of Seriah son of Neriah, who was
commanded by Jeremiah to take a scroll of
Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning Babylon to
Babylon (Jeremiah 51:59-64), is known to
exist in a private collection. It reads:
“Belonging to Seriah [son of] Neriyahu.”
An impression has been found of the seal that
actually belonged to Jeremiah’s scribe,
Baruch. The inscription on the bulla contains
a longer form (“Berechiah”) of the name
Baruch. It reads: “Belonging to Berechiah son
of Neriah the scribe.” See Jeremiah 32:12;
34: 1-7; and chapters 36 and 45.
An impression of the seal of the very person
commanded to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah
has been found. It reads: “Belonging to
Jerahmeel the king’s son” — see Jeremiah
36:26: “Instead, the king commanded
Jerahmeel, a son of the king ... to arrest
Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet.
But the Lord had hidden them”
An impression of the seal of “Gemariah son
of Shaphan the secretary” (Jeremiah 36:10),
the one in whose room Baruch read the words
of Jeremiah from the scroll to the people, was
found by Yigal Shiloh in his excavations in
the City of David. It reads: “Belonging to
Gemaryahu, son of Shaphan.”
A seal impression was found at Tell el-
Umeiri in Jordan, east of the Dead Sea, from
the early 6th century B.c. It reads: “Belonging
to Milkom’ur, servant of Baalyasha.” This
Baalyasha is probably to be identified with
“Baalis the king of the sons of Ammon,”
mentioned in Jeremiah 40: 14.
Recently the actual seal of “Ba’alis, king of
the sons of Ammon” has come to light — the
very king who plotted the murder of Gedaliah
(Jeremiah 40: 13-41 : 2).
Lamentations
A Lament over the Desolation of
Jerusalem
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not
consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in
him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
— Lamentations 3:22-23, 25-26
This short book is Jeremiah’s lament over the city
he had done his best to save. Yet, in his sorrow he
also expresses his faith that Jerusalem will rise
again from its ruins (3:21, 31-32). Jerusalem did
indeed rise and gave its name to the capital of a
redeemed world of eternal glory, the New
Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 2 1:2).
An Appendix to Jeremiah
The last chapter of Jeremiah should be read as an
introduction to this book. The Septuagint adds the
introduction, “And it came to pass, after Israel was
led into captivity and Jerusalem was laid waste,
that Jeremiah sat weeping, and lamented this
lamentation over Jerusalem, and said. . . .”
But unlike our Bible, the Hebrew Old
Testament does not put Lamentations immediately
after Jeremiah, but rather in a group of books
called the Ketubim or Writings, to which belong
the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations,
Ecclesiastes, and Esther. These were on separate
rolls because they were read at different feasts. To
this day, the book of Lamentations is read in
synagogues throughout the world, wherever there
are Jews, on the ninth day of the fourth month, the
day of fasting that commemorates the fall of the
temple (Jeremiah 52:6).
An Acrostic
The book consists of five poems, four of which are
acrostics — that is, each verse begins with a
different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in
alphabetic sequence. This was a favorite form of
Hebrew poetry, adopted in part as an aid to
memory. In chapters 1, 2, and 4 there is one verse
for each letter, or 22 verses per chapter, since the
Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. Chapter 3 has
three verses per letter, and thus 66 verses in all.
Chapter 5 has 22 verses, but not in alphabetic
order. (See also the chapter on “Poetry and
Wisdom: Job-Song of Songs” . I
Its Immediate Use
The book must have been composed in the three
months between the burning of Jerusalem and the
departure of the remnant to Egypt (Jeremiah 39:2;
41:1, 18; 43:7). During this time the seat of
government was at Mizpah (Jeremiah 40:8).
Probably a number of copies were made; some
were taken to Egypt, others sent to Babylon for the
exiles to memorize and sing.
Lam. 1 ZION DESOLATE
It is not easy to define the subject of each chapter.
The same ideas, in different wording, run through
all the chapters: the horrors of the siege and the
desolate ruins, all due to Zion’s sins. Jeremiah,
stunned, dazed, and heartbroken, weeps with
inconsolable grief. The emphasis in this chapter is
that the people brought the catastrophe upon
themselves by their sins (5, 8-9, 14, 18, 20, 22).
Lam. 2 GOD’S ANGER
The devastation of Jerusalem is attributed to the
anger of God (1-4, 6, 21-22). Jerusalem, situated
on a mountain and surrounded by yet higher
mountains, was because of its location the most
beautiful city then known, “the perfection of
beauty” (v. 15), even when compared with
Babylon, Nineveh, Thebes, and Memphis, which
were built on river plains. Moreover, it was the
city of God’s special care, chosen by Him for a
unique mission — to be the main channel for God’s
dealings with people. It was the most favored and
highly privileged city in all the world, beloved of
God in an exceptional way and under His special
protection. Moreover, it was so well fortified that
it was generally believed to be impregnable
(4:12). But this City of God had become worse
than Sodom (4:6). That the God of love is also a
God of wrath is a teaching that is stated and
illustrated again and again throughout the Bible.
Lam. 3 JEREMIAH’S GRIEF
In this chapter Jeremiah seems to be complaining
that God has ignored him and his prayers (v. 8):
“You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no
prayer can get through” (v. 44). Though
complaining, he justifies God, acknowledging that
they deserved worse (v. 22). The high point of the
book is verses 21-39.
Lam. 4-5 SUFFERINGS OF THE
SIEGE
Jeremiah could not keep his mind off the horrors of
the siege, the cries of starving children (2:11-12,
19; 4:4), women who boiled their babies for food
(2:20; 4: 10).
But in spite of its horrible sufferings,
Jerusalem failed to learn its lesson. After the exile
it was rebuilt, and in Jesus’ day it had again
become a great and beautiful city. Yet they
crucified the Son of God, after which followed its
eradication by the armies of Rome in a.d. 70. (See
under Hebrews 13.)
Ezekiel
The Fall of Jerusalem
Judgments on Surrounding Nations
The Restoration of Israel
“When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will
surely die, ’ and you do not warn him or
speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways
in order to save his life, that wicked man
will die for his sin, and I will hold you
accountable for his blood. But if you do
warn the wicked man and he does not turn
from his wickedness or from his evil ways,
he will die for his sin; but you will have
saved yourself ”
-Ezekiel 3 : 18-19
Ezekiel was a prophet of the Babylonian captivity
(or exile). He was taken to Babylon in 597 B.c., 11
years before Jerusalem was destroyed and the
southern kingdom, Judah, ceased to exist.
The northern kingdom, Israel, had been taken
into exile by the Assyrians 120 years earlier. This
had happened in three stages, of which especially
the last one should have been a warning to Judah:
734 B.c. Galilee and northern and eastern
Israel are overrun by Tiglath-pileser.
722 B.c. Samaria and the rest of Israel are
captured by Sargon.
701 B.c, 200,000 of the inhabitants of Judah
are taken into exile by Sennacherib.
The Babylonian exile of Judah also took place
in three stages:
605 B.c, Some captives are taken to
Babylon, including Daniel.
597 B.c, More captives are taken to Babylon,
including Ezekiel.
586 B.c, Jerusalem is burned.
The Babylonian exile lasted 70 years, from
605 to 535 B.c, Ezekiel was in Babylon from 597
until at least 570 B.c.
Ezekiel and Daniel
Daniel had been in Babylon for nine years and had
already attained to great fame when Ezekiel
arrived (14:14, 20). Daniel lived and worked in
the palace, Ezekiel in the country.
Ezekiel and Jeremiah
Jeremiah was the older of the two. Ezekiel may
have been his pupil. Ezekiel preached the same
things among the exiles that Jeremiah was
preaching in Jerusalem: the certainty of Judah’s
punishment for her sins.
Ezekiel and the Book of Revelation
Some of Ezekiel’s visions reappear in the book of
Revelation:
• The cherubim (Ezekiel 1 ; Revelation 4)
• Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38; Revelation 20)
• Eating the book (Ezekiel 3; Revelation 10)
• The New Jerusalem (Ezekiel 40-48;
Revelation 21)
• The river of the water of life (Ezekiel 47;
Revelation 22)
“They Will Know That I Am the Lord”
This expression is a dominant note of the book. It
occurs 62 times, in 27 of the 48 chapters (6:7, 10,
13, 14; 7:4, 9, 27; 11:10, 12; 12:15, 16, 20; 13:9,
14, 21; 14:8; 15:7; 16:62; 17:21, 24; 20:12, 20,
28, 38, 42, 44; 21:5; 22:16, 22; 23:49; 24:24, 27;
25:5, 7, 11, 17; 26:6; 28:22, 23, 24, 26; 29:6, 9,
16, 21; 30:8, 19, 25, 26; 32:15; 33:29; 34:27, 30;
35:4, 9, 12, 15; 36:11, 23, 36, 38; 37:6, 13, 14, 28;
38:16, 23; 39:6, 7, 22, 23,28).
Ezekiel’s mission appears to have been to
explain why God caused or permitted Judah’s
captivity. It was because of the unspeakable
abominations of which they had been guilty —
abominations for which other nations had been
wiped out. But for Judah, it was punishment for the
sake of correction: through their punishment they
would come to know that God is God. They did.
The Babylonian captivity cured the Jews of their
idolatry.
The Chronology of Ezekiel’s Book
The pivot around which the book revolves is the
destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred in 586
B.c. Ezekiel’s prophecies began six years before
that and continued for 16 years thereafter, covering
a period of 22 years. Until the fall of Jerusalem,
Ezekiel was constantly predicting the certainty of
its fall (chaps. 1-24). After that, his prophecies
deal with the overthrow of surrounding nations
(chaps. 25-32) and the reestablishment and
glorious future of Israel (chaps. 33-48).
His visions, with minor exceptions, are
presented in chronological sequence. The years are
dated from King Jehoiachin’s captivity, which was
597 B.c.
The thirtieth year (1:1), which was the
equivalent of the fifth year of the exile of King
Jehoiachin (1:2), is thought to have been the 30th
year of Ezekiel’s life — the age at which Levites
began their service (Numbers 4:3; Jesus and John
the Baptist both began their work at age 30). Or, it
may have been the 30th year in the Babylonian
calendar, which began with the year in which
Nebopolasar won Babylonia’s independence from
Assyria (625 B.c,).
The dates of Ezekiel’s visions are as follows:
Chapter 1:2
5th year
4th month
5 th day
July 31, 593 b.c.
First vision
Chapter 8: 1
6th year
6th month
5 th day
Sept. 17, 592 b.c.
Transport to Jerusalem
Chapter 20: 1
7th year
5 th month
10th day
Aug. 14, 591 B.c.
Israel’s history
Chapter 24: 1
9th year
10th month
10th day
Jan. 15, 588 B.c,
The siege begins (2 Kings 25:1)
The siege of Jerusalem began in the 9th year, in
the 10th month, on the 10th day.
Chapter 26: 1
11th year
1st day
Apr. 23, 5 87- Apr. 13, 586 b.c.
Against Tyre
Chapter 29: 1
10th year
10th month
12 th day
Jan. 7, 587 b.c.
Against Egypt
Chapter 29:17
27th year
1st month
1st day
Apr. 26, 571 b.c.
Egypt in exchange for Tyre
Chapter 30:20
11th year
1st month
7 th day
Apr. 29, 587 B.c.
Against Pharaoh
Chapter 31:1
12th year
12 th month
1st day
June 21, 585 b.c.
Against Pharaoh
Jerusalem fell in the 11th year, in the 4th month,
on the 9th day.
Chapter 32:1
12th year
12 th month
1st day
March 3, 585 b.c.
Lament over Pharaoh
Chapter 32:17
12 th year
15 th day
Apr. 13, 5 86- Apr. 1, 585 B.c,
Egypt is dead
Chapter 33:21
12th year
10th month
5 th day
585 B.c,
The first fugitive arrives
Chapter 40: 1
25th year
lst(?) month
10th day
573 B.c.
Vision of the future
Since Ezekiel was so meticulous in dating his
visions, down to the exact day, it is assumed that
all that comes after a given date belongs to that
date until the next date is mentioned.
Ezek. 1:1-3 EZEKIEL’S HOME
AND DATE
Ezekiel was taken captive with King Jehoiachin
(597 B.c.) and speaks of “our exile” (33:21; 40:1).
He had a wife (24:15-18) and a home (8:1). He
lived by the River Kebar, the great ship canal that
branched off from the Euphrates north of Babylon
and ran through Nippur back to the Euphrates.
Nippur, about 50 miles southeast of Babylon, was
Calneh, one of the cities Nimrod had built
(Genesis 10:10). Tel Abib seems to have been
Ezekiel’s hometown (3:15, 24), and it is thought to
have been near Nippur.
The conditions of the Jews in the Babylonian
exile were relatively mild. They were placed in a
specific location — Tel Aviv or Tel Abib — but they
appear to have been allowed to travel freely in the
country and to engage in commerce. They were
regarded more as colonists than as slaves.
Son of Man is how Ezekiel is addressed 90
times. In Daniel 7:13 this title is used of the
Messiah. It was the title by which Jesus commonly
spoke of Himself (see under John 1 : 14).
Visions and symbolic actions are characteristic
of Ezekiel’s book. Some of his symbolic actions
were accompanied by painful personal sufferings.
He had to remain silent for a long period (3:26;
24:27; 33:22). He had to lie on his side in one
position for over a year (4:5-6). He had to eat
food cooked over cow manure (4:15). And his
wife, whom he dearly loved (“the delight of your
eyes”) was suddenly taken from him, but he was
not allowed to mourn (24: 16-18).
Ezek. 1:4-28 EZEKIEL’S VISION
OF GOD
The “living creatures” are identified as cherubim
(10:20). They stood, one in the middle of each side
of a square, their outspread wings touching at the
corners of the square. Each cherub had four faces:
the face of a man, looking outward from the square;
on his right, the face of a lion; on his left, the face
of an ox; in the rear, looking toward the center of
the square, the face of an eagle. There were four
immense whirling wheels (10:6), one beside each
cherub. The wheels “sparkled like chrysolite,” and
their rims were full of eyes. This fourfold living
creature moved like flashes of lightning from place
to place, with noise like the roar of the ocean.
Above the living creatures was a crystal
platform, and on the platform, a throne of blue
sapphire. The whole vision was set within a vast
storm cloud, with whirling flashes of fire. This
was the form in which God appeared to Ezekiel. It
signified His glory, power, omniscience,
omnipresence, omnipotence, sovereignty, majesty,
and holiness.
Cherubini guarded the entrance to the tree of
life (Genesis 3:24). Likenesses of cherubim were
placed on the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25: 18-
20) and embroidered on the curtain of the
tabernacle (Exodus 26:31). They were reproduced
in olive wood in the temple (1 Kings 6:23, 29; 2
Chronicles 3:14). They are interwoven in biblical
thought from the beginning as angelic attendants of
God. In Revelation (4:6-7; 5:6; 6:1, 6; 7:11; 14:3;
15:7; 19:4), they are intimately connected with the
unfolding of the last things.
Ezek. 2-3 EZEKIEL’S
COMMISSION
Ezekiel is warned at the outset that he is being
called to a life of hardship and persecution. His
message is delivered to him from God in the form
of a book, which he is commanded to eat (this also
happened to the apostle John in Revelation 10:9).
In his mouth the book was “sweet,” which seems to
mean that he found joy in being God’s messenger,
though the message was a message of woe. Eating
the book, whether literally or only in a vision,
signified thoroughly digesting its contents so that
its message would become a part of himself. In
3:17-21 God seemed to lay upon Ezekiel the
responsibility for the doom of his nation, which he
could escape only by a faithful declaration of
God’s message. He was also warned that God
would, at times, impose silence upon him (3:26;
24:27; 33:22); this was a caution to Ezekiel to
speak not his own ideas, but only what God
commanded.
Ezek. 4-7 THE SYMBOLIC
SIEGE OF JERUSALEM
Ezekiel’s opening message to the exiles, who were
hoping for a speedy return to Jerusalem, was this
graphic warning that Jerusalem was about to be
destroyed, that they would soon be joined by other
exiles, and that their exile would last at least 40
years. The number 40 may be meant as a round
number denoting a generation. At this time (592
b.c.) some of the captives had already been there
13 years. In six more years, Jerusalem was burned.
From that point on, the captivity lasted 50 years,
586-536 b.c.
Although the basic meaning of this section is
clear, the numbers have given rise to many
explanations. Certain things are plain: each day
represented a year, and the years signified a period
during which God’s people would receive
discipline. Some understand the numbers as
referring to Israel’s stay in Egypt (390 years) and
the wilderness wanderings (40 years); these
numbers, then, are symbolic rather than actual and
warn of a time of captivity similar to that in Egypt,
though not necessarily of the same length.
Normally the numbers would be taken as
periods of time separated into two distinct and
successive intervals. Ezekiel’s reference point for
chronological purposes was King Jehoiachin’s
deportation in 597 B.c, This would therefore
appear to be the natural starting point for
measuring the time periods in these verses. The
430 years would denote the punishment inflicted
by conquering foreign powers on the children of
Israel and Judah from the deportation of
Jehoiachin, their recognized king, to the inception
of the Maccabean rebellion in 167 B.c, During the
Maccabean period the Jews once again were in
charge in Judah. Though this is a possible solution,
we must avoid being dogmatic about these
numbers.
As a sign of famine, Ezekiel lived on bread
baked on excrement. Throughout the siege he lay
on one side, either continuously or for the greater
part of each day, which, combined with the famine
rations he was allowed to eat each day, meant
great discomfort.
Chapter 5. When the siege is finished, he is
commanded, as a further symbol of the fate of
Jerusalem’s inhabitants, to shave off his hair, burn
part of it, and scatter the rest to the winds.
Chapters 6-7, A sort of dirge over the
destruction and desolation of the land of Israel; the
main point is that the Jews would, by this terrible
punishment, come to know that God is God.
Ezek. 8-11 EZEKIEL’S VISION-
JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM
In September of 592 B.c., a year and two months
after his call, Ezekiel was transported in a vision
to Jerusalem, where God showed him the
abhorrent idolatries that were being practiced in
the temple. The “idol that provokes jealousy” (8:3)
probably was Asherah, a Canaanite fertility
goddess. Secret animal worship (8:10) was
probably an Egyptian cult. It was led by Jaazaniah
II, whose father Shaphan had been a leader in
Josiah’s reformation (2 Kings 22:8) and whose
brothers Ahikam and Gemariah were Jeremiah’s
close friends (Jeremiah 26:24; 36:10, 25), even
while Jeremiah himself was crying out in horror at
the sacrilege.
This is the only biblical reference to the
Babylonian fertility god Tammuz. It is possible
that the women of Jerusalem were bewailing his
dying, which they felt caused the annual wilting of
vegetation. The date of this vision was in the
months of August/September. This month later
became known in the Hebrew calendar as the
month of Tammuz (see Jewish Calendar ).
Thus, in spite of warning after warning and
punishment after punishment, the once powerful
kingdom of Judah, reduced now almost to the point
of extinction, was still sinking lower and lower
into the depths of idolatrous infamy — a stench no
longer to be endured by God.
Chapter 9. A vision of the slaughter of
Jerusalem’s idolaters, except for the faithful who
bore the mark of the angel-scribe (vv. 3-4; similar
to Revelation 14:1, where the 144,000 have their
Father’s name written in their foreheads).
Chapter 10. Reappearance of the cherubim of
chapter 1, now to oversee the destruction and
slaughter of Jerusalem.
Chapter 11. A vision of the future restoration
of the exiles, humbled, purified, and cured of
idolatry (vv. 10, 12).
His mission completed, Ezekiel is taken back
to his home in exile to tell the exiles everything he
had seen (8:1; 11:25).
Ezek. 12 EZEKIEL MOVES HIS
HOUSEHOLD GOODS
Another symbolic action to emphasize Jerusalem’s
impending exile. Here is an amazingly detailed
prophecy of Zedekiah’s fate: his secret flight, his
capture, and his removal to Babylon without seeing
it (vv. 10, 12-13). Five years later, it happened:
Zedekiah attempted a secret escape, was captured,
had his eyes put out, and was taken to Babylon
(Jeremiah 52:7-11).
Ezek. 13 FALSE PROPHETS
There were many false prophets, both in Jerusalem
and among the exiles. The charms (v. 18) and veils
(vv. 18, 21) must have been used in some sort of
magical rite. The Bible avoids explicit
descriptions of the occult.
Ezek. 14 HYPOCRITICAL
INQUIRERS
To a delegation of idol lovers, God’s answer is not
words but the swift and terrible destruction of
idolatrous Israel. It may be that for Daniel’s sake
Nebuchadnezzar had spared Jerusalem thus far (v.
14), but it is now to be spared no longer.
Ezek. 15 THE PARABLE OF THE
USELESS VINE
A vine that does not produce Suit is utterly useless,
since its wood cannot be used for anything except
as fuel. In the same way, Jerusalem was no longer
fit for anything but burning.
Ezek. 16 THE ALLEGORY OF
THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE
This chapter is a very graphic and vivid portrayal
of Israel’s idolatry under the image of a bride,
loved by her husband, who made her a queen and
lavished upon her silks and sealskins and every
beautiful thing, but who then made herself a
prostitute to every man that passed by, outdoing
even Sodom and Samaria in wickedness. (See
Jeremiah 1-2.)
Ezek. 17 THE PARABLE OF THE
TWO EAGLES
The first eagle (v. 3) was the king of Babylon. The
“topmost shoot” (v. 4) was Jehoiachin, who was
taken to Babylon (2 Kings 24:11-16) six years
before this parable was uttered. The “seed of the
land” (vv. 5, 13) was Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17).
The other eagle (v. 7) was the king of Egypt,
toward whom Zedekiah looked for help. For his
treachery, Zedekiah will be taken to Babylon, to be
punished and to die there (v. 13-21; this is a
repetition of what Ezekiel had previously
prophesied, 12:10-16). This happened five years
later (2 Kings 25:6-7). The “tender sprig” (vv.
22-24), which God would later plant in the
restored royal family of David, had its fulfillment
in the Messiah.
Ezek. 18 “THE SOUL WHO SINS
IS THE ONE WHO WILL DIE”
Much is said in the Prophets about the fact that
Israel’s exile was the result of the cumulative sins
of earlier generations. The generation of the exile,
overlooking the fact that they were “worse than
their fathers,” was now trying to lay all the blame
on their fathers. The burden of this chapter is that
God judges every individual on the basis of his or
her own individual and personal conduct. It is an
impassioned appeal to the wicked to repent (vv.
30-32).
Ezek. 19 A DIRGE OVER THE
FALL OF DAVID’S THRONE
Under the imagery of a lioness, David’s family,
once great and powerful, is now overthrown. The
first cub (v. 3) was Jehoahaz (Shallum), who was
taken to Egypt (2 Kings 23:31-34). The second
cub (v. 5) was either Jehoiachin or Zedekiah, both
of whom were taken to Babylon (1 Kings 24:8-
25:7).
Ezek. 20 A REVIEW OF ISRAEL’S
IDOLATRIES
Generation after generation Israel had wallowed in
the filth of idol worship. But note the prophecy of
restoration (see also chapter 37).
Ezek. 21 THE SWORD OF
BABYLON
The sword is about to be drawn against Jerusalem
and Ammon.
The south (20:46) is the land of Judah.
Until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs
(21:27): “it” is the overturning of Zedekiah’s
throne (vv. 25-27). This will be the end of David’s
kingdom until the corning of the Messiah (34:23-
24; 37:24; Jeremiah 23:5-6).
Ezek. 22 THE SINS OF
JERUSALEM
Over and over Ezekiel names the sins of
Jerusalem: she defiles herself with idols, sheds
blood, profanes the Sabbath, practices robbery,
commits promiscuous adultery; and the princes,
priests, and prophets are greedy for dishonest gain.
Ezek. 23 OHOLAH AND
OHOLIBAH
Two sisters, insatiable in their lewdness, are a
parable of Israel’s idolatry. Oholah is Samaria;
Oholibah, Jerusalem. Both have grown old in their
adulteries. Again and again the relationship
between husband and wife is used to represent the
relationship between God and his people (see
under chapter 16). Promiscuous adultery must have
been very widespread (16:32; 18:6, 11, 15; 22:11;
23:43; Jeremiah 5:7-8; 7:9; 9:2; 23:10, 14; 29:23).
Ezek. 24 THE COOKING POT
The cooking pot is symbolic of the destruction of
Jerusalem, which is very near. The rust on the pot
represents the bloodshed and immorality of the
city.
The death of Ezekiel's wife (vv. 15-24)
occurred on the day the siege of Jerusalem began
(vv. 1, 18; 2 Kings 25:1). It is a heartrending sign
to the exiles that their beloved Jerusalem was now
to be taken from them. Silence was imposed on
Ezekiel until news came, three years later, that the
city had fallen (v. 27; 33:21-22).
Ezek. 25 AMMON, MOAB,
EDOM, PHILISTIA
These four nations were Judah’s closest neighbors,
who rejoiced at Judah’s destruction by Babylon.
Ezekiel here predicts for them the same fate, as did
Jeremiah (Jeremiah 27:1-7). Nebuchadnezzar
subdued the Philistines when he took Judah, and
four years later he invaded Ammon, Moab, and
Edom
Ezek. 26-28 TYRE. VISIONS OF
586 b.c.
These visions of the doom of Tyre were given to
Ezekiel in the same year that Jerusalem fell, that is,
the 11th year (26:1).
Chapter 26. A prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar’s
siege and Tyre’s permanent desolation. The
following year, in 585 B.c,, Nebuchadnezzar laid
siege to Tyre. It took him 13 years to conquer the
city.
Tyre, located 12 miles north of the Israeli-
Lebanese border, was a double city; part of it was
built on an island, part on the mainland, in a fertile
and well-watered plain at the western foot of the
Lebanon mountain range. It was the great maritime
power of the ancient world and reached its zenith
from the 12th to the 6th centuries B.c,, with
colonies on the north and west coasts of Africa, in
Spain, and in Britain. Tyre controlled the
commerce of the Mediterranean — the wares of all
nations passed through its port. It was a city
renowned for its splendor and fabulous wealth.
With Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest, Tyre ceased
to be an independent power. It was later subdued
by the Persians, and again by Alexander the Great
(332 B.c,). It never recovered its former glory and
has for centuries been a “bare rock” where
fishermen “spread fishnets” (26:4-5, 14), an
amazing fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy that it
“will never be rebuilt” (26: 14, 2 1 ; 27:36; 28:29).
Chapter 27. Tyre, mistress of the
Mediterranean, is pictured under the image of a
majestic ship of incomparable beauty, bearing the
wares and treasures of the nations, but about to be
sunk.
Chapter 28:1-19. The overthrow of Tyre’s
proud king, who, on his inaccessible and
impregnable island throne, took any threat to his
security lightly.
Chapter 28:20-24. The overthrow of Sidon,
20 miles north of Tyre. It was taken by
Nebuchadnezzar when he took Tyre.
Chapter 28:25-26. The restoration of Israel,
after the hostile neighbor nations shall have
disappeared.
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Ezek. 29-32 EGYPT. SIX VISIONS
Six visions that predict Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion
of Egypt and Egypt’s permanent reduction to a
place of minor importance. Nebuchadnezzar
invaded and plundered Egypt in 568 B.c, Egypt
never quite recovered its former glory (29: 15).
First Vision (29:1-16). January 587 B.c., 18
months before the fall of Jerusalem. As Tyre was
pictured as a ship in chapter 27, in this vision
Egypt is pictured as a crocodile, monarch of the
Nile, and one of the gods of Egypt.
The 40 years of Egypt’s captivity and
desolation (vv. 11-12): it was nearly 40 years
from Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Egypt to the
rise of Persia (536 b.c.), under whose rule all
captive peoples were allowed to return to their
native lands.
Second Vision (29:17-30:19). April 571 B.c.,
16 years after the fall of Jerusalem. This vision,
given many years after the other five visions, on
the eve of Nebuchadnezzar’s march into Egypt, is
inserted here for unity of subject. He and his army
obtained no material reward from their campaign
against Tyre (29:18); Nebuchadnezzar, God’s
servant in punishing the nations, had besieged Tyre
for 13 years (ending in 573 B.c.). Considering the
length of the siege, the booty had been
disappointing because so many inhabitants had fled
with their wealth. But now he will make up for it
in Egypt (v. 20). “No longer will there be a
prince” (30:13), that is, a native ruler of
importance.
Third Vision (30:20-26). April 587 B.c,, 15
months before Jerusalem fell. “Have broken” (v.
21) probably refers to the defeat of Pharaoh’s army
(Jeremiah 37:5-9).
Fourth Vision (chap. 31). June 587 B.c., 13
months before Jerusalem fell. Egypt is warned to
remember the fate of Assyria, which was more
powerful than Egypt yet had fallen to Babylon.
Fifth Vision (32:1-16). March 585 B.C., eight
months after Jerusalem fell. A lamentation over
Egypt, to be crushed at the hands of Babylon.
Sixth Vision (32: 17-32). March 585 B.c., eight
months after Jerusalem fell. A picture of Egypt and
her companions in the realm of the dead.
Ezek. 33 NEWS OF THE FALL OF
JERUSALEM
This happens a year and a half after the city had
fallen (see chronology in the chapter on Ezekiel ! .
Ezekiel had been silent since the day the siege had
begun, a period of three years (24:1, 26-27;
32:22). The visions against Tyre and Egypt of
chapters 26-31, most of which came during those
three years, must have been written, not spoken.
Ezekiel’s first statement after receiving news
of the fall was that the wicked left in Judah would
be exterminated (vv. 23-29). Five years later
Nebuchadnezzar took 745 more captives (Jeremiah
52:30).
Then follows a note about Ezekiel’s popularity
with the exiles (vv. 30-33), who were charmed by
his speech but continued to be unrepentant.
Ezek. 34 AN INDICTMENT OF
THE SHEPHERDS OF ISRAEL
Responsibility for the captivity of Israel is here
laid directly at the door of the greedy and cruel
kings and priests who had exploited the people and
led them astray. Against this background Ezekiel
sees a vision of the future Shepherd of God’s
people in the coming Messiah (vv. 15, 23-24),
under whom they shall never again suffer — “there
will be showers of blessing” (v. 26).
Ezek. 35 THE DOOM OF EDOM
Now that the inhabitants of Judah had been taken
away, Edom saw an opportunity to take possession
of their land (v. 10; 36:2, 5). But three years later
the same fate befell Edom, (See under Obadiah.)
Ezek. 36 THE LAND OF ISRAEL
TO BE REINHABITED
Now desolate, it will one day become like the
Garden of Eden (v. 35), populated by a penitent
Judah and Israel (vv. 10, 31). This will be for the
glory of God’s own name (vv. 22, 32).
Ezek. 37 THE VISION OF THE
DRY BONES
This vision is a prediction of the national
resurrection of scattered Israel, their return to their
own land, and the reunion of Judah and Israel
under the reign of an everlasting king called
“David” (vv. 24-26). It is a plain forecast of the
conversion of the Jews to Christ, as Paul also
foretold in Romans 11:15, 25-26.
“I will put my Spirit in you and you will
live, and I will settle you in your own
land. Then you will know that I the Lord
have spoken, and I have done it,
declares the Lord. ”
—Ezekiel 37:1, 3-6, 14
The vision encompasses the “whole house of
Israel” (vv. 11), both Judah and Israel, the southern
kingdom and the northern kingdom. The return of
Judah is told in Ezra and Nehemiah, where there is
no mention of returned exiles of Israel. Yet those
returned are called “Israel” (Ezra 9:1; 10:5;
Nehemiah 9:2; 11:3).
There is difference of opinion as to how much
of this is to be interpreted literally as referring to
the Jews and what may be a foreshadowing of the
new covenant in its universal aspect (vv. 26-28). It
is not always easy to draw a clear line between
what is to be taken literally and what figuratively.
For instance, it would seem that the great battle of
Gog and Magog of chapters 38-39, which is still
future, could not be fought with literal bows and
arrows, war clubs, and spears (39:9).
David (37:24) is not literal David, but the
Messiah. The term “Israel” in the New Testament,
while usually used of Jews, is sometimes applied
to Christians (Galatians 6:16), and it is indicated
that Gentiles were included in the meaning
(Romans 2:28-29; 4:13-16; Galatians 3:7-9, 29;
Philippians 3:3). So this vision of a reinhabited
land and a revived and glorified nation, making all
due allowance for its evident literal meaning, may
also be a symbolic image of a regenerated earth, as
the book of Revelation depicts heaven under the
image of a magnificent earthly city (Revelation
21). Biblical prophecies of the future were often
pictured in terms of what was then present. We
think that in such passages as this there may be
both a literal and a figurative meaning, just as in
Matthew 24 some of Jesus’ words seem to refer
both to the destruction of Jerusalem and to the end
of the world, the one typical of the other.
The Messiah is central in Ezekiel’s visions of
Israel’s future. He calls Him “the Prince” (34:23-
24; 37:24-25; 44:3; 45:7; 46: 16-18; 48:21).
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Ezek. 38-39 GOG AND MAGOG
Much has been written (and speculated) about the
prophetic meaning of Gog and Magog. Gog is
apparently a leader or king whose name appears
only here and in Revelation 20:8. Attempts have
been made to identify Gog with historical rulers,
such as Gyges, king of Lydia (ca. 660 B.c.).
Possibly the name is purposely vague, standing for
an as yet undisclosed enemy of God’s people. In
the book of Revelation, Gog and Magog are used
to represent all nations in Satan’s final, furious
attack on the people of God (Revelation 20:7-10).
In Ezekiel 39:16, Magog appears to be the
name of a people. But since the Hebrew prefix ma
can mean “place of,” Magog may here simply mean
“land of Gog.” From the time they entered Canaan,
the Israelites had experienced hostilities from
other Semitic peoples. The coalition Ezekiel
envisions will include and be led by nations
descended from Japheth.
The “chief prince” is evidently a military
commander-in-chief. (An alternative meaning is
“prince of Rosh”; if this is correct, Rosh would be
the name of an unknown people or place. There is
no evidence from the Ancient Near East that a
country named Rosh ever existed. Rosh is
sometimes thought to refer to Russia because of the
similar sound; however, the word “Russia” dates
from the late 11th century a.d. — more than 1,500
years after Ezekiel’s day.)
Magog, a descendant of Japheth (Genesis
10:2), is identified by Josephus ( Antiq . 1.123) as
the land of the Scythians, a mountainous region
around the Black and Caspian seas. This position
is generally accepted.
Meshech and Tubal were sons of Japheth (see
Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5) and are probably
to be located in eastern Asia Minor (cf. 27:13;
32:26). They are peoples and territories to the
north of Israel (cf. vv. 6, 15; 39:2). Thus, Gog is a
person from the region of Magog who is the chief
ruler, or prince, over the geographical areas
Meshech and Tubal. These areas, or countries,
seem to be located generally south of the Black and
Caspian seas in what are now the countries of
Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
As in the days of the Assyrians and
Babylonians, the major attack will again come
from the north in confederation with peoples from
the east. With the help of God, those attacking will
be so overwhelmingly defeated that their weapons
will supply fuel for seven years (39:9) and it will
take seven months to bury their dead (39: 12).
Ezek. 40-48 THE REBUILT
TEMPLE
In April 572 B.c., at the time of the Passover, 14
years after the destruction of Jerusalem, Ezekiel
makes his second journey in a vision to Jerusalem;
the first had been 19 years earlier (8:1, 3), on a
mission of doom for the city. This second vision-
journey is to give specifications for Jerusalem’s
reconstruction and deals largely with details
concerning the new temple.
This vision was not fulfilled in the return from
Babylon. It is clearly a prediction of the Messianic
Age.
Some interpret it literally as meaning that the
12 tribes will one day again inhabit the land and be
distributed as here indicated, that the temple will
be rebuilt literally in all particulars as here
specified, and that there will be literal animal
sacrifices. They call it “the millennial temple.”
Others interpret it figuratively and take the
vision to be a metaphorical preview of the whole
Christian era under the image of a revived,
restored, and glorified nation.
This temple of EzekieTs vision, with its courts,
arrangements, and furnishings, follows roughly,
though with many variations, the general plan of
Solomon’s temple.
God was to live in this temple “forever”
(43:7). This can hardly be said of a literal,
material temple. It must be a figurative
representation of something, since Jesus, in John
4:21-24, abrogated temple worship and there will
be no temple in heaven (Revelation 2 1 :22).
Offerings and sacrifices (45:9-46:24). One
wonders why there should be sacrifices under the
reign of “the prince.” The epistle to the Hebrews
explicitly states that sacrifices were fulfilled and
done away in the death of Christ, “once for all.”
Those who think that this temple is a literal
“millennial temple” consider that these animal
sacrifices are to be offered by the Jewish nation
while it is still unconverted, or that the sacrifices
are commemorative of the death of Christ.
The life-giving stream (47:1-12). This is one
of Ezekiel’s grandest passages. Joel and Zechariah
also spoke of this stream (Joel 3:18; Zechariah
14:8). It seems to be a picture of heaven’s “river of
the water of life” (Revelation 22:1-2). Whatever
specific or literal application these waters may
have, certainly, without any straining whatever,
they can be understood as a beautiful picture of the
benign influences of Christ, coming out of
Jerusalem and flowing forth, in an ever-widening,
ever-deepening stream, to the whole wide world,
blessing the nations with their life-giving qualities,
on into the eternities of heaven.
The east gate of the temple is to be closed,
except to “the prince” (44: 1-3).
The sacred area for the city, temple, priests,
and Levites was to be in the approximate center of
the land, with the lands of “the prince” on either
side (45:1-8).
Boundaries of the land and the location of the
tribes (47:13-48:29). The land was not quite as
large as the domain of David. Roughly, it was the
southern half of the eastern shore of the
Mediterranean, about 400 miles north-south and
averaging about 100 miles east- west. The tribes
are not in their original arrangement, but as here
indicated.
The city (48:30-35) is 7 1/2 miles square. The
pattern is, in part, that of the New Jerusalem
(Revelation 21). The city is the home of God (v.
35).
Daniel
The Hebrew Statesman-Prophet at
Babylon
“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace,
the God we serve is able to save us from it,
and he will rescue us from your hand, 0
king. But even if he does not, we want you to
know, 0 king, that we will not serve your
gods or worship the image of gold you have
set up. ”
— Daniel 3:17-18
When Daniel was lifted from the den, no
wound was found on him, because he had
trusted in his God.
Daniel 6:23
While still a mere youth, Daniel was carried to
Babylon, where he lived during the whole period
of the Babylonian exile, at times occupying high
office in the Babylonian and Persian empires.
The Book of Daniel
The book itself presents Daniel as its author (7:1,
28; 8:2; 9:2; 10:1-2; 12:4-5). Its genuineness was
sanctioned by Christ (Matthew 24:15) and
accepted by the Jews and early Christians. The
traditional view, that the book is a true historical
document dating from the days of Daniel himself,
persisted unanimously among Christian and Jewish
scholars until the rise of modern criticism. The
critics, in the name of modern scholarship, assume
it to be a settled fact that the book was written by
an unknown author who lived 400 years after
Daniel, who assumed Daniel’s name and palmed
off his own writing as the genuine work of a hero
long dead. But how can we think that God could be
a party to the deception? We suspect that the real
crux of the attempt to discredit the book of Daniel
is an unwillingness to accept the marvelous
miracles and amazing prophecies recorded in the
book.
The book of Daniel, like the rest of the Old
Testament, is written in Hebrew — except for the
section from 2:4 to 7:28, which is in Aramaic
(what used to be called Chaldee). Aramaic was the
commercial and diplomatic language of the time.
This is what might be expected in a book written
for Jews living among Babylonians, containing
copies of official Babylonian documents in their
original Babylonian language. (See The
Development of Writing in the chapter Writing,
Books, and the Bible)
This book is considered by many to be
generally historical in nature in chapters 1-6 and
apocalyptic (revelatory) or prophetic in chapters
7-12. There are similarities between events and
visions described in Daniel with those presented
in the book of Revelation.
Dan. 1 DANIEL
Daniel was in the first group of captives taken
from Jerusalem to Babylon (605 B.c.). He was of
royal or noble blood (v. 3). Josephus says that
Daniel and his three friends were related to King
Zedekiah, which gave them easier entree to the
palace of Babylon. Handsome, brilliant young men,
who were under the special care of God and
trained by Him to bear witness to His name at the
heathen court that then ruled the world. The royal
food and wine (v. 8), which they refused to eat,
may have been foods that had been offered in
sacrifice to Babylonian idols or foods that were
not allowed under the dietary laws of Moses.
Daniel’s meteoric rise to worldwide fame is
indicated in Ezekiel 14:14, 20; 28:3, written only
15 years later, while Daniel was still a very young
man. What a remarkable man! Unswerving in his
own religious convictions, yet so loyal to his
idolatrous king that he was trusted with the affairs
of the empire.
The City of Babylon
Babylon, the scene of Daniel’s ministry, was
perhaps the most magnificent city of the
ancient world. Situated in the cradle of the
human race, it had been built around the
Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:9) and was a
favorite residence of Babylonian, Assyrian,
and Persian kings, and even of Alexander the
Great, who had plans to further beautify it
that came to naught because of his early
death.
A commanding city through the whole pre-
Christian era, Babylon was brought to the
zenith of its power and glory in the days of the
prophet Daniel, by King Nebuchadnezzar,
who, during his 45-year reign, never wearied
of building and beautifying its palaces and
temples.
It was captured by the Medes and Persians
(Daniel 5) but remained an important city
through the Persian period. After Alexander
the Great it declined, and by the time of
Christ its political and commercial supremacy
had gone, and soon the greater part of the
once-mighty city was in ruins. Its bricks have
been used in building Baghdad and repairing
canals. For centuries it has been a desolate
heap of mounds, a place for the beasts of the
desert; a remarkable fulfillment of prophecy;
still uninhabited except for a little village at the
southwest corner.
The ruins of Babylon are an eerie reflection of
Isaiah’s prophecy: “She will never be
inhabited or lived in through all generations; no
Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will
rest his flocks there. But desert creatures will
lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the
owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will
leap about. Hyenas will howl in her
strongholds, jackals in her luxurious palace”
(Isaiah 13:20-22; see Jeremiah 51:37-43).
The Hanging Gardens
The most spectacular construction in Babylon
was the Hanging Gardens, which were
considered one of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World. Nebuchadnezzar had the
gardens built inside the walls of his palace to
ease the homesickness of his wife, Amytis,
from Media, which was a wild, mountainous
country, very unlike the flat plains surrounding
Babylon.
The lowest level of the garden stood on
arches 80 feet tall. On top of that a 10-foot-
high, recessed level was built, and another
one on top of that, recessed further. There
may have been six levels in all, creating a
gigantic staircase some 140 feet tall. The
terraces were waterproofed with lead,
bitumen, and reeds and then filled with rich
soil. On the terraces Nebuchadnezzar planted
trees, shrubs, and flowers, so that the whole
looked like a beautiful mountainside.
The terraces were irrigated from the
Euphrates. A series of pipes ran from the
river to an underground cistern. Next to the
cistern a slim tower that reached the top
terrace contained an endless chain of water
buckets that were kept moving night and day
by slaves on a treadmill. The Hanging
Gardens were still in existence two centuries
after Nebuchadnezzar, when Alexander the
Great captured the city.
Dan. 2 THE STATUE IN
NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DREAM
This event occurred in the second year of
Nebuchadnezzar’s reign as sole ruler, which means
that Daniel was still a young man, having been in
Babylon only three years.
The four world empires here predicted as part
of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream are generally
understood to have been the Babylonian (head of
pure gold), Persian (breast and arms of silver),
Greek (belly and thighs of brass), and Roman
empires (legs of iron and feet and toes of partly
iron and partly baked clay). From the days of
Daniel to the corning of Christ, the world was
ruled by these four empires, exactly as Daniel had
predicted. In the days of the Roman Empire, Christ
appeared and set up a kingdom that started as a
grain of mustard seed, passed through many
adversities, and will become a universal and
everlasting kingdom, blossoming into full glory at
the Lord’s return.
Critics who assign a Maccabean date to the
book of Daniel, in order to explain it as referring
to past events rather than being a prediction of the
future, find it necessary to place all four empires
before the date of composition, that is, before the
Maccabean revolt. They then consider the Persian
empire to be two empires, the Median and Persian,
in order to make the Greek empire the fourth. But
after the fall of Babylon there were not both a
Median empire and a Persian empire. To make it
appear so is only an effort to distort the facts of
history in order to substantiate a theory. Medes and
Persians constituted one empire under the rule of
Persian kings. Darius the Mede was only a sub-
king, who ruled for a little while under Cyrus the
Persian until Cyrus arrived in Babylon.
It is far more likely that the divided kingdom
refers to the Roman Empire, which came after the
Greek Empire. The Roman Empire was divided
into a western empire and an eastern empire
(Byzantium) in the 4th century a.d. and was never
conquered, but fell due to internal disintegration
and corruption.
Moreover, nothing happened in the Maccabean
period that answers to the rock that “was cut
out . . . , but not by human hands” (2:44-45). These
verses allude to a fifth kingdom — an eternal
kingdom of God that will never be destroyed, that
will not be left to another people, that will bring an
end to all other kingdoms.
This prophecy of the four kingdoms is further
expanded under different images in chapter 7 (the
four beasts), chapter 8 (the ram and the goat),
chapter 9 (the 70 weeks), and chapter 11 (the
struggles between the kings of the North and kings
of the South). See The World Powers of Biblical
Times in The Setting of the Bible, and maps:
Empires for an overview of these four kingdoms.
Dan. 3 THE FIERY FURNACE
According to the Septuagint, this incident occurred
in the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, after
Daniel and his three friends had been in Babylon
for about 20 years. That was 586 B.c., the same
year Nebuchadnezzar burned Jerusalem
Just as many years earlier God had revealed
the dream of Nebuchadnezzar and its interpretation
to Daniel, so He now puts into the hearts of these
three men the firm determination to be true to Him
— and then He goes with them into the fire, not
only to honor their faith but to demonstrate before
the assembled dignitaries of the far-flung empire
the power of the God of Jerusalem over the
vaunted gods of Babylon. Thus God manifested
himself a second time in the palace of the mighty
empire, and a second time the mighty
Nebuchadnezzar bowed before God and
proclaimed Him to be the true God to the utmost
bounds of his empire.
The Babylonian Empire
The Babylonian Empire ruled the ancient Near
East during two periods, almost a millennium
apart.
The Old Babylonian Empire (2000-1600
B.C.)
• Around 2000 b.c. Babylon became the
dominating power of the world
• This was the era of the great lawgiver
Hammurabi (ca. 1800 b.c.).
• Then followed 1000 years of intermittent
struggle, followed by 250 years of
Assyrian supremacy (884-605 b.c.).
The New Babylonian Empire (625-539 b.c.)
The New Babylonian or Neo-Babylonian
Empire broke the power of Assyria and, in its
westward sweep, destroyed Judah and
conquered Egypt. Its kings were
• Nabopolassar (625-605 b.c.), who
threw off the yoke of Assyria in 625 b.c.
and established the independence of
Babylon. With the aid of Cyaxares the
Mede he conquered and destroyed
Nineveh (612 b.c.). His son
Nebuchadnezzar became commander of
his father’s armies and in 605 b.c.
became coregent with his father.
• Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 b.c), the
greatest of all Babylonian kings, was one
of the mightiest monarchs of all time.
(See the sidebar Nebuchadnezzar in the
chapter on Daniel).
Under Nebuchadnezzar’s successors the
Babylonian Empire began to decline: Evil-
Merodach (562-560), Neriglissar (559-
556), Labashi-Marduk (556), and
Nabonidus (556-539 b.c.).
Nabonidus’s son, Belshazzar, was
coregent with him during the last few
years of his reign, and thus the second-
most powerful person in Babylon. This is
why he could only offer Daniel the third-
highest position as a reward for
interpreting the handwriting on the wall
(Daniel 5:7; for the story of the
handwriting on the wall and the fall of
Babylon, see sidebar Belshazzar in the
chapter on Daniel).
The city of Babylon, and with it the
Babylonian Empire, fell to the Medes and
Persians. Supremacy passed to Persia in
539 b.c. and would last until Persia was in
turn conquered by Alexander the Great in
331 b.c.
The Babylonian Empire lasted 70 years. The
70 years of Judah’s exile coincided exactly
with the 70 years during which Babylon ruled
the world. The year in which Cyrus, king of
Persia, conquered Babylon (539 b.c.) was the
same year in which he authorized the return of
the Jews to their own land.
Babylon, oppressor of God’s Old Testament
people, appears again in the book of
Revelation as the embodiment of the forces of
evil that oppose God (Revelation 17).
Nebuchadnezzar
Daniel was adviser to King Nebuchadnezzar,
the genius and real builder of the New
Babylonian Empire. Of its 70 years’ existence,
he ruled 44 years.
Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar
and viceroy of Babylon, threw off the Assyrian
yoke in 626 b.c. and ruled the city from 626
until 605 b.c.
In 605 b.c. Nebuchadnezzar was placed at the
head of his father’s armies. Invading the
western countries, he wrested control of
Palestine from Egypt (605 b.c.) and took
some Jewish captives to Babylon, among
them Daniel.
That same year he became coregent with his
father; he became sole ruler a year later. He
proved to be one of the mightiest monarchs of
all time.
In 605 b.c., he broke the power of Egypt in
the famous battle of Carchemish. In that
same year Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem
and deported a number of persons of high
rank, among them young Daniel and
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (1:1, 6).
In 597 b.c. he crushed a rebellion in Palestine
and took King Jehoiachin and many captives
to Babylon, among them the prophet Ezekiel.
In 586 b.c. he burned Jerusalem and took
more captives. For 13 years his army
besieged the city of Tyre (585-573 b.c.).
In ca. 582 b.c. he invaded and plundered
Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Lebanon; and in
581 he again took captives from Judah. In
572 he invaded and plundered Egypt. He died
562 b.c.
Daniel exerted a powerful influence over him;
and three times Nebuchadnezzar called the
God of Daniel “God” (2:47; 3:29; 4:34).
Dan. 4 NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S
INSANITY AND RECOVERY
This is the story of another dream of
Nebuchadnezzar’s that Daniel interpreted, and that
came true. Nebuchadnezzar was smitten with a
mental disease in which he fancied himself a beast
and tried to act like one, roaming among the
animals in the parks of the palace grounds. A third
time, Nebuchadnezzar bowed before God and
proclaimed His power to all the world.
Additions to the Book of
Daniel
The Septuagint version of the book of Daniel
(as well as other Greek versions) includes,
among other additions, between 3:23 and
3:24 a section that contains a prayer of
Azariah (the Hebrew name of Abednego; 1 :7)
and a song by all three men in the fiery
furnace. It embodied a popular tradition but
was never regarded as a part of the Hebrew
Bible. It is still found in the Apocrypha in
Protestant Bibles and as part of the book of
Daniel in Roman Catholic Bibles. (On the
Apocrypha, see The Apocrypha in the chapter
on How We Got the Bible.)
Dan. 5 BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST
The feast took place on the night of the fall of
Babylon. Daniel had been in Babylon for 70 years
and was now a very old man. He apparently no
longer had a prominent position at the court, since
the queen had to bring Daniel to Belshazzar’s
attention (vv. 10-12).
The handwriting on the wall (vv. 25-28).
This is how the ancient historians Xenophon,
Herodotus, and Berosus relate the fall of Babylon:
“Cyrus diverted the Euphrates into a new channel,
and, guided by two deserters, marched through the
dry bed into the city, while the Babylonians were
carousing at a feast of their gods.”
Belshazzar
Until 1853, no mention of Belshazzar had
been found in Babylonian records; Nabonidas
(556-539 b.c.) was known to have been the
last king of Babylon. To the critics this was
one of the evidences that the book of Daniel
was not historical. But in 1853 an inscription
was found on the cornerstone of a temple
built by Nabonidas in Ur, which read: “May I,
Nabonidas, king of Babylon, not sin against
thee. And may reverence for thee dwell in the
heart of Belshazzar, my firstborn, favorite
son.”
From other inscriptions it has been learned
that Nabonidas spent much of his time outside
of Babylon (at Teman in northern Arabia), that
Belshazzar was in control of the army and the
government as coregent with his father, and
that it was he who surrendered to Cyrus. This
explains how making Daniel the “third ruler” in
the kingdom was the highest honor
Belshazzar could bestow (5:16, 29).
Inscriptions state that the Persian army, under
Gobryas, took Babylon without a battle, that he
killed the son of the king, and that Cyrus entered
later.
Dan. 6 DANIEL IN THE LIONS’
DEN
Daniel had been a high official of the Babylonian
Empire under Nebuchadnezzar, and though Daniel
was by now a very old man, probably over 90,
Darius, the conqueror of Babylon, immediately put
him in charge of the Babylonian government. This
probably was because Daniel had just foretold the
victory of the Medes (5:28). What a compliment to
his wisdom, integrity, and fairness! Yet he was
unswerving in his personal devotion to his own
God (v. 10). What faith and courage!
Dan. 7 THE FOUR BEASTS
This is a continuation of the prophecy of chapter 2,
which was spoken 60 years earlier: four world
empires, and then the kingdom of God. In chapter 2
these are represented by a statue with a head of
gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of
brass, and feet of iron and clay, broken in pieces
by a stone. In this chapter these same four world
empires are represented as a lion, a bear, a
leopard, and a terrifying beast. The fourth beast
may also correspond to the imagery of the seven-
headed, 10-horned beast of Revelation 13.
The image in chapter 2 might be from man’s
perspective — the kingdoms are seen as a mighty
warrior — while the images given to Daniel in
chapter 8 may be from God’s perspective: the
kingdoms, which in the end will all be conquered,
are seen as voracious beasts.
These four world empires are commonly taken
to be Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome (see
under chap. 2), representing the period from
Daniel to the end of the church age (Christ’s
second coming . . .).
Darius the Mede
The identification of Darius the Mede is not
completely certain. Perhaps it is another
name for Gubaru, who is referred to in
Babylonian inscriptions as the governor whom
Cyrus put in charge of the newly conquered
Babylonian territories. Or perhaps “Darius the
Mede” may have been Cyrus’s throne name in
Babylon. (“The reign of Darius and the reign
of Cyrus” in 6:28 is then translated “the reign
of Darius, that is, the reign of Cyrus”; see 1
Chronicles 5:26 for a similar phenomenon.)
The “ten horns” of the fourth beast (v. 24),
which may correspond to the 10 toes of 2:41-42,
are taken to be the 10 kings or kingdoms into which
the Roman Empire was divided or that were
established and given power by the Roman
Empire. Prophetically, the 10 horns may refer to a
powerful 10-nation confederacy that will form in
the last days. Some believe that this confederacy
may arise in the geographic area that was once the
old Roman Empire (which, unlike the three
kingdoms before it, was never conquered and
destroyed but fell through internal corruption).
The “other horn” (vv. 8, 20, 24-25), which
came up among the 10 horns, may be a world
power that was not one of the 10 original powers
and may refer to the Antichrist (Revelation 13).
The image of three horns uprooted by the “little
horn” (v. 7:8) seems to foretell a world leader
who will overpower three of the 10 kings, after
which great oppression follows. This world leader
is ultimately judged, slain, and thrown into “the
blazing fire” (v. 11).
Note that the beast described in Daniel 7
matches the beast of Revelation 13 but that the
characteristics are listed in reverse order (lion,
bear, leopard). This could be explained by the fact
that Daniel was looking forward to the end of
times in his dream and John has been transported
into the future and had the opportunity to witness
the end-time events and look back through history
at the events leading up to the end times.
The Miracles in the Book of
Daniel
Wonderful things are told in this book. To
those who find it difficult to believe these
things, we say: let us remember that for 1000
years God had been nurturing the Hebrew
nation for the purpose of establishing, through
that nation, in a world of idol-worshiping
nations, the idea that God is God. Now God’s
nation had been destroyed by a nation that
worshiped idols. That was plain evidence to
all the world that the gods of Babylon were
more powerful than the God of the Jews. It
was a crisis in God’s struggle with idolatry. If
ever there was a time when God needed to
do something to show who God is, it was
during the Babylonian exile. Strange indeed it
would have been if nothing unusual had
happened. Hard as it may be to believe these
miracles, it would be harder to believe the
rest of the story without them.
At least the Jews, who from the very
beginning had always been falling into idolatry,
were now at last, in the Babylonian exile,
convinced that their own God was the true
God. These miracles also had a powerful
influence on both Nebuchadnezzar and Darius
(3:29; 6:26).
In v. 13, Daniel describes “the son of man.”
This is the first reference to Christ the Messiah as
the “son of man” — a title that Jesus used of
Himself. The “son of man” will be given authority,
glory, and sovereign power. All the nations and
people of every language will worship Him, and
His dominion will never end. This account
parallels the description of “the Lamb” in
Revelation 14.
Dan. 8 THE RAM AND THE
GOAT
This chapter contains further predictions about the
second and third world empires spoken of in
chapters 2 and 7, that is, the Persian and Greek
empires.
Time Periods in the Book of
Daniel
“A time, times, and half a time”
• Denotes the duration of the other horn of
the fourth beast (7:25).
• Denotes the period from Daniel to the
time of the end (12:6-7).
• Is used in Revelation 12:14 as identical to
42 months and to 1,260 days (Revelation
11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5), the period of
time the Holy City was trampled, the two
witnesses prophesied, the woman was in
the wilderness, and the revived beast
was on the throne.
The word “time,” in the phrase “a time, times,
and half a time” is generally taken to mean
year; the phrase thus means 3 1 12 years,
which is 42 months, or 1,260 days.
By some, this is taken to refer to a literal 3
1/2 years. Others, on the year-day
interpretation (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6),
take it to be a period of 1,260 years. Still
others look upon the figures, not as defining
time limits or periods, but as being symbolic:
7 is the symbol of completeness, while 3 1 12 ,
which is half of 7, represents incompleteness
— that is, the reign of evil will be only
temporary.
2,300 evenings and mornings
(8:14) is the time the sanctuary was trampled
by the little horn of the third beast. It means
either 2,300 days or 2,300 half-days, that is,
1,150 days; The former is almost double 3 1
12 years; the latter is slightly less than 3 1 /2
years.
1,290 days (12:11) is the duration of “the
abomination that causes desolation,” from its
beginning to the time of the end.
1,335 days (12:12) apparently is an
extension of 45 days beyond the 1,290- day
period, culminating in final blessedness.
70 Weeks (9:24) is the period from the
decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of
the Messiah. It includes “seven weeks” of
times of trouble (9:25) and one week in which
the Anointed One was to be cut off (9:26-27).
These time periods are used in close
connection with the phrase “abomination that
causes desolation” set up by the little horn of
the third beast (8:13; 11:31); this
“abomination” also follows the cutting off of
the Messiah (9:27) and is the point from
which the 1,290 days run (12:11). Jesus
quotes this expression, “abomination that
causes desolation,” as referring to the
impending destruction of Jerusalem by the
Roman army (Matthew 24:15), in a discourse
that blends “short-term” prophecies with
prophecies involving the end of the world.
Time of trouble (9:25, 27) refers to the
seven weeks at the beginning and one week
at the end of the 70-week period. A time of
distress such as has not
happened from the beginning of
the nations (12:1) is predicted for the
“time of the end” (12:4, 9, 13); Jesus quotes
the expression as referring to both the
destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the
world (Matthew 24:21).
The desecration of the temple by Antiochus
(see Under Syrian Rule (The Seleucids) in the
chapter The 400 Years Between the
Testaments) lasted 3 1 12 years (168-165
b.c.). The Roman war against Jerusalem
lasted 3 1 12 years (a.d. 67-70).
We think that no one interpretation can
exhaust the meaning of these time marks of
Daniel. Possibly they may be taken literally as
well as in some sense figuratively and
symbolically. Possibly they may have their
primary fulfillment in an event of history, a
secondary fulfillment in another event, and
their ultimate fulfillment at the time of the end.
The desecration of the temple by Antiochus
and the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus may
be forerunners and symbols of the Great
Tribulation in the days of Antichrist.
We should not be too disappointed if we fail
to feel sure that we understand, for Daniel
himself felt that it was beyond understanding
( 8 : 27 ).
The Persian Empire, represented in 7:5 as a
devouring bear, is here presented as a two-horned
ram (vv. 3-4), since the empire was a coalition of
Medes and Persians.
The Greek Empire was pictured in 7:6 as a
four-headed leopard; here it is portrayed as a swift
goat with one great horn, bounding furiously from
the west; the great horn is broken and replaced
with four horns.
The great horn was Alexander the Great, who
broke the Persian Empire in 331 B.c. This
prophecy was written 539 B.c,, 200 years before
its fulfillment, ft is a most remarkable prediction of
the outcome of a clash between two world-
empires, neither of which had, at the time of the
prediction, yet arisen.
Four horns (vv. 8, 21-22) and four heads (7:6)
are the four kingdoms into which Alexander’s
empire was divided (see on chap. 11).
The little horn (v. 9), which arose out of the
four, is generally agreed to mean Antiochus
Epiphanes (175-163 b.c.), of the Syrian branch of
the Greek Empire, who made a determined effort
to stamp out the Jewish religion (see under 11:21—
35). Yet the repeated phrase “time of the end” (vv.
17, 19) may mean that along with the near view of
Antiochus there may have been in the distant
background of the vision the ominous outline of a
far more terrible destroyer (v. 26) who would
darken the closing days of history and of whom
Antiochus was a symbolic forerunner.
Dan. 9 THE 70 WEEKS, OR 70
“SEVENS”
The Babylonian captivity, which was then drawing
to a close, had lasted 70 years. Daniel is here told
by the angel that it would still be “70 sevens” until
the corning of the Messiah (v. 24). The word
translated “seven” is generally understood to mean
“week” here.
The 70 weeks are generally understood to
mean 70 weeks of years, that is, 70 times 7 years,
or 490 years. The Exile had been 70 years; the
period between the Exile and the coming of the
Messiah would be seven times that long.
The number seven, and cycles of seven,
sometimes have symbolic meanings, yet the actual
facts of this prophecy are most amazing:
The date from which the 70 weeks was to be
counted was the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (v.
25). There were three decrees issued by Persian
kings for this purpose (539 B.c,, 458 B.c,, 444 B.c.;
see under Ezra). The main one of these was the one
in 458 B.c,
The 70 weeks are subdivided into 7 weeks, 62
weeks, and 1 week (vv. 25, 27). It is difficult to
see the application of the 7 weeks, but the 69
weeks (62 + 7) equal 483 days, which, according
to the commonly accepted year-day theory (Ezekiel
4:6), means 483 years.
This 483 years is the period between the
decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the coming of the
Anointed One (v. 25). The decree to rebuild
Jerusalem was issued in 458 B.c. Adding 483 years
to 457 B.c. brings us to a.d. 26, the very year in
which Jesus was baptized and began His public
ministry. A most remarkable fulfillment of Daniel’s
prophecy, even to the year.
Further, within 3 1/2 years Jesus was crucified,
that is, “in the middle of the ‘seven’ ” (in the
middle of the week) “the Anointed One” was “cut
off”; He atoned for wickedness and brought in
everlasting righteousness (vv. 24, 26-27). Thus
Daniel foretold not only the time at which the
Messiah would appear, but also the duration of His
public ministry and His atoning death for human
sin.
Some think that the remaining half of the 70th
week was completed in the few years after Christ’s
death and resurrection. Others believe that the
fulfillment of the 70th week was suspended at the
death and resurrection of Christ and will remain
suspended as long as Israel is scattered; the last
half of the “one week” then belongs to the time of
the end.
Yet another viewpoint is that there is an
indeterminate interval between the 69th and 70th
weeks. Some believe that the 70th week will begin
at Christ’s second coming and the rapture of the
church. This, then, marks the beginning of the seven
years referred to as the Great Tribulation period. It
is thought that during this time the “little horn” of
chapter 8 will rise to power and enter into a
seven-year covenant with the Jews (Israel). This
covenant is then broken after 3 1/2 years and the
remaining 3 1/2 years represent a time of great war
and destruction, leading up to the great and final
battle of Armageddon. (See Revelation 7:14
regarding the tribulation period.)
Dan. 10 ANGELS OF THE
NATIONS
This last vision (chaps. 10-12) was given two
years after the Jews had returned to Palestine (534
B.c.). God lifted the veil and showed Daniel some
realities of the unseen world — conflicts going on
between superhuman intelligences, good and bad,
in their effort to control the movements of nations.
Some of them sought to protect God’s people.
Michael was the guardian angel of Israel (13:21).
An unnamed angel talked with Daniel. Greece had
its angel (v. 20), and so did Persia (vv. 13, 20).
It seems that God was showing Daniel some of
his secret agencies in operation to bring about the
return of Israel. One of them helped Darius (11:1).
In this chapter they are represented as being
interested in the destiny of Israel; in Revelation,
angels are concerned with the destiny of the
church. In Revelation 12:7-9, Michael and his
angels are at war with Satan and his angels.
According to Ephesians 6:12, the powers of the
unseen world are the chief enemies against which
Christians have to fight. There was great angelic
activity when Jesus was born. Jesus Himself
believed in angels (see under Matthew 4:11).
Dan. 11 KINGS OF THE NORTH
AND KINGS OF THE SOUTH
Chapters 2, 7, 8, 9, and 11 contain predictions
about four empires and events from the time of
Daniel until the end of the church age. Some hold
that these predictions refer to later world powers
and events, from the rapture of the church to the
end, which culminate with the battle at
Armageddon (Revelation 16:13-16).
Here is a general outline of world history
covered in Daniel’s prophecies:
• Babylonian Empire (605-539 B.c.)
• Persian Empire (539-332 B.c.)
• Greek Empire, with its four divisions (33 1—
146 b.c.)
• Wars of Syrian and Egyptian Greek kings
(323-146 B.c.)
• Antiochus Epiphanes, desecration of
Jerusalem (175-163 b.c.)
• Roman Empire (146 b.c,-a.d. 400)
• Public ministry of Christ (a.d. 26-30)
• Destruction of Jerusalem by Roman army
(a.d. 70)
• World troubles, and the resurrection, at “time
of the end”
These predictions are progressive in their
explanations of details. In chapter 2 we have a
general statement that from the days of Daniel to
the days of the Messiah there would be four world
empires. Chapter 7 gives details about the fourth
empire. In chapter 8 we find details about the
second and third empires, and in chapter 11 still
more details about the third empire.
Following the death of Alexander the Great in
331 B.c., the Greek Empire — the third empire —
was divided among his generals into four regions:
Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt. In this chapter
the kings of Syria are called “kings of the North.”
The kings of Egypt are called “kings of the South.”
Daniel’s predictions of the movements of these
kings were uttered 200 years before there was a
Greek Empire and nearly 400 years before these
kings existed. His minute description of their
movements is a most extraordinary parallel
between prediction and subsequent history.
Chapter 11 is the prewritten history of the period
between the two Testaments. Flere is an outline of
events answering to the verses in which they were
predicted (for a general overview of this period
between the Old and New Testaments, see the
chapter on The 400 Years Between the
Testaments ).
Three kings in Persia (v. 2): Cambyses,
Gaumata, and Darius I. The fourth was Xerxes, the
richest and most powerful of the Persian kings; he
invaded Greece, but was defeated at Salamis (480
B.C.).
A mighty king (vv. 3-4): Alexander the Great
and the fourfold division of his kingdom into
Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt.
King of the South (v. 5): Ptolemy I Soter of
Egypt; one of his commanders, Seleucus I
Nicator, originally an officer under Ptolemy I,
became king of Syria and the most powerful of
Alexander’s successors.
Daughter (v. 6): Berenice, daughter of
Ptolemy 11, was given in marriage to Antiochus II
and was murdered.
One of her family li ne (v. 7): Ptolemy HI, a
brother of Berenice, invaded Syria in retaliation
and won a great victory (8).
Two sons (v. 10): Seleucus III and Antiochus
in.
Verses 11-19: Ptolemy IV defeated Antiochus
III with great loss in the battle of Raphia, near
Egypt in 217 B.c, Antiochus III, after 14 years,
returned with a great army against Egypt (v. 13).
The Jews helped Antiochus (v. 14). Antiochus
defeated the forces of Egypt (v. 15). Antiochus
conquered Palestine (v. 16). Antiochus gave his
daughter Cleopatra in treacherous marriage
alliance to Ptolemy V, hoping through her to get
control of Egypt; but she stood with her husband
(v. 17). Antiochus then invaded Asia Minor and
Greece and was defeated by the Roman army at
Magnesia in 190 B.c, (vv. 18-19). He returned to
his own country and was assassinated.
A contemptible person (vv. 21-35):
Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Not the rightful heir, he
got the throne by treachery (v. 21). He made
himself master of Egypt, partly by force and partly
by cunning deceit (vv. 22-25). Ptolemy VI, son of
Cleopatra and nephew of Antiochus, was defeated
by the treachery of his subjects (v. 26). Under the
guise of friendship, Antiochus and Ptolemy vied
with each other in treachery (v. 27). Returning
from Egypt, Antiochus attacked Jerusalem, killed
80,000, took 40,000, and sold 40,000 Jews into
slavery (v. 28). Antiochus again invaded Egypt.
But the Roman fleet compelled him to withdraw (v.
29). He vented his anger on Jerusalem and
desecrated the temple (vv. 30-31). He was helped
by apostate Jews (v. 32). Verses 36-45 may refer
to both Antiochus Epiphanes and the Antichrist.
Dan. 12 THE TIME OF THE END
Daniel closes his prophecies concerning the
epochs and events of world history with a sweep
forward to the end (vv. 4, 9, 13), when there shall
be distress as never before (v. 1), followed by the
resurrection of the dead and the everlasting glory
of the saints (vv. 2-3).
A time of distress such as has not happened
from the begin ni ng of nations (v. 1) is not
inapplicable to our own generation: torture,
suffering, and death of entire populations —
genocide — by demon dictators, no more intense
perhaps than the atrocities perpetrated by
Antiochus, Titus, and the Roman emperors, but on
a scale unparalleled in all previous history.
Many will go here and there to increase
knowledge (v. 4) is to be a characteristic of the
time of the end. This, too, applies to our own
generation as it has to no other: modes of travel
and means of communication on a scale never
before dreamed of
Summary of Daniel’s
Prophecies
• The statue: four kingdoms, and then
God’s everlasting kingdom (chap. 2)
• Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity and recovery
(chap. 4)
• The fall of Babylon and the rise of the
Persian Empire (chap. 5)
• The “fourth” empire, its “ten horns,” and
“other horn” (chap. 7)
• The Greek Empire and its “four horns”
(chap. 8)
• The 70 weeks: the time from Daniel to
the Messiah (chap. 9)
• The troubles of the Holy Land during the
period between the Testaments (chap.
11 )
• Signs of the time of the end (chap. 12)
The nuclear bomb, biological warfare,
terrorism — it makes us wonder if we may be living
in the period Jesus spoke of as the setting for His
return: “On the earth, nations will be in anguish
and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.
People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what
is corning on the world” (Luke 2 1 :25-26).
Hosea
Israel’s Idolatry, Wickedness, Captivity,
and Restoration
“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on
the seashore, which cannot be measured or
counted. In the place where it was said to
them, ‘You are not my people, ’ they will be
called ‘sons of the living God. ’
— Hosea 1:10
“They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up. ”
-Hose a 8:7
Hosea was the only one of the writing prophets to
come from the northern kingdom, Israel; he speaks
of its king as “our” king (7:5). The name Hosea
means “salvation.” His message was primarily
aimed at the northern kingdom, with occasional
reference to the southern kingdom, Judah.
Date
Judging from the kings mentioned in 1:1, Hosea
must have prophesied for at least 38 years, though
almost nothing is known about him except what we
read in this book. But since his prophetic activity
is dated by reference to a number of kings of
Judah, the book was probably written in Judah
after the fall of the northern capital, Samaria (722-
721 b.c.) — an idea suggested by references to
Judah throughout the book.
Hosea began his ministry when Israel, under
Jeroboam II (793-753), was at the zenith of its
power. Hosea then witnessed the rapid
disintegration and fall of the northern kingdom.
going from its peak to its end in less than 30 years:
• Jeroboam II (793-753). A reign of great
prosperity
• Zechariah (753-752). Reigned six months;
assassinated by Shallum
• Shallum (752). Reigned one month;
assassinated by Menahem
• Menahem (752-742). Unspeakably cruel; a
puppet of Assyria
• Pekahiah (742-740). Assassinated by Pekah
• Pekah (752-732). Assassinated by Hoshea
• Hoshea (732-722). Fall of Samaria (721).
End of northern kingdom
The kings of the southern kingdom during
whose reigns he prophesied (1:1) were
• Uzziah (792-740), a good king
• Jotham (750-732), a good king
• Ahaz (735-716), a very wicked king
• Hezekiah (716-687), a good king, during
whose reign Samaria fell
Hosea was a younger contemporary of the
prophet Amos and an older contemporary of the
prophets Isaiah and Micah.
The Situation
Some 200 years before Hosea ’s time, the Ten
Tribes had seceded and set up an independent
kingdom, with the golden calf as its official
national god. During those two centuries God had
sent the prophets Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, and Amos.
Now God sent Hosea.
Hosea faced as horrendous a mess as is found
anywhere in the Bible. The degradation of the
people was unbelievable. Yet Hosea labored
unceasingly to make them see that God still loved
them.
Hos. 1-3 HOSEA’S WIFE AND
CHILDREN
Israel, God’s “bride” (Ezekiel 16:8-15), had
forsaken God and had given herself to the worship
of other gods, which was spiritual adultery. Now
Hosea is commanded by God to take an adulterous
wife (1:2). The simple, natural implication of the
language is that it was an actual experience in
Hosea’s life, and a generally accepted
interpretation is that Hosea, a prophet of God, was
actually commanded by God to marry an unchaste
woman, as a symbol of God’s love for wayward
Israel. (Or perhaps she was a woman who, if she
was chaste at first, afterward proved unfaithful,
left him, and became the paramour of a man who
could better satisfy her fondness for luxury; 2:5.)
The idolatrous worship of the land was so
universally accompanied by immoral practices
(4:11-14) that it was hard for a woman to be
chaste, and adultery (the KJV uses the forceful
term “whoredom”) was rampant.
Some of the language applies to Hosea’s family
literally, some to the nation figuratively, some to
both, with the literal and figurative alternating.
“His sentences fall like the throbs of a broken
heart.”
Hosea’s reconciliation with his wife (3:1-5).
Hosea still loved his wife and bought her back
(3:1-2), but he required her to remain for a time
without conjugal privilege, as a prophetic image of
Israel remaining “many days without king and
without sacrifice” before their eventual return to
their God and David their king (3:3-4).
Hosea’s children. Not only was Hosea’s
marriage an illustration of the thing he was
preaching, but the names of his children proclaim
the main messages of his life.
Jezreel (1:4-5), his firstborn, was named after
the city of Jehu’s bloody brutality (2 Kings 10: 1—
14). The valley of Jezreel was the age-old
battlefield on which the kingdom was about to
collapse. By naming his child Jezreel, Hosea was
saying to the king and to the nation, “The hour of
retribution and punishment has come.”
Lo-Ruhamah (1:6), the name of the second
child, meant “not loved.” God’s mercy had come to
an end for Israel, though there would be a respite
for Judah (v. 7).
Lo-Ammi (1:9), the name of the third child,
meant “Not my people.”
Hosea then repeats the two names without the
“Lo” prefix — Am mi and Ruhamah — “My people”
and “My loved one” (2:1), looking forward to the
time when Israel would again be God’s people.
And in a play on the words, he predicts the day
when other nations will be called the people of
God (1:10), a verse Paul quotes to support his
message that the Gospel will also be extended to
include Gentiles (Romans 9:25).
Hos. 4 THE CHARGE AGAINST
ISRAEL
Idolatry is the source of their horrible crimes (vv.
1-3). Priests feed on the sins of the people (vv. 4-
10). The young women are harlots, married women
entertain other men, men visit prostitutes (vv. 11-
14). Judah (v. 15) had not s u nk into idolatry as
deeply as Israel and was spared for about 100
years after Israel was destroyed. Ephraim (v. 17),
the largest and most central of the northern tribes,
is used as a name for the whole northern kingdom.
Beth Aven (v. 15) is another name for Bethel,
the main center of idolatry in the northern kingdom.
i l
Hos. 5 THE JUDGMENT
AGAINST ISRAEL
Priests, king, and people are “rebels” against God
(vv. 1-3). Steeped in sin and proud of it; “their
deeds do not permit them to return to their God” —
a terrible statement about the possibility of
irreversible rejection of God (vv. 4-5).
Illegitimate children (v. 7), that is, by men
other than their husbands.
Intent on pursuing idols (v. 11), the result of
King Jeroboam I’s decision to create, for political
reasons, a form of idolatry that would compete
with the worship of God in Jerusalem (1 Kings
12:26-33) when he first established the northern
kingdom.
Hos. 6-7 ISRAEL IS
UNREPENTANT
On the t hi rd day (6:2) probably means that after a
short period Israel would be restored; it is
generally understood to be an intimation of Jesus
the Messiah’s resurrection on the third day. Gilead
(6:8) and Shechem (6:9) were two of the main
cities of the northern kingdom and were
particularly horrible as centers of vice and
violence.
Hot as an oven; they devour their rulers
(7:7; v. 4) probably refers to the period of
passionate indulgence and violence in which four
of their kings were assassinated in quick
succession, even while Hosea was speaking.
A flat cake not turned (7:8) is burnt on one
side and raw on the other and therefore u nf it for
use.
Hair . . . sprinkled with gray (7:9) is a
symptom of the approaching end.
Hos. 8 “THEY SOW THE WIND
AND REAP THE WHIRLWIND”
Set up kings without my consent (v. 4): God had
appointed David’s family to rule his people. The
Ten Tribes had rebelled and set up a different line
of kings for themselves.
Sold herself to lovers (v. 9): Israel flirted
with Assyria by paying tribute.
Hos. 9-10 ISRAEL’S
PUNISHMENT
Return to Egypt (9:3): not literally, but to Egypt-
like bondage in Assyria, although after the
captivity many Jews did settle in Egypt.
The prophet is considered a fool (9:7) is
either Hosea’s opinion of false prophets or, more
probably, the people’s opinion of Hosea.
They have sunk deep into corruption (9:9),
as in the days of Gibeah, where one woman was
raped all night long by a group of men (Judges
19:24-26).
Wanderers among the nations (9:17): the
wandering began in Hosea’s lifetime and has
continued with relentless persistence through the
centuries, for the Jews as for no other nation.
The calf-idol of Beth Aven [Bethel] (10:5)
shall be broken in pieces (8:6), and thorns and
thistles shall grow over their altars (10:8).
Shalman ( 10: 14) is probably Shalmaneser V
Hos. 11:1-11 GOD’S LOVE FOR
ISRAEL
Out of Egypt (v. 1): this is quoted in Matthew
2:15 as referring to the flight of Jesus’ parents to
Egypt. Even as the messianic nation was called out
of Egypt in its childhood, so the Messiah Himself
in His childhood was called out of Egypt.
My people are determined to turn from me
(v. 7), but God’s heart is still yearning for them
with compassion (8-1 1).
i l
Hos. 11:12-12:14 ISRAEL’S SIN
Assyria and Egypt (v. 2): Israel’s lying
diplomacy, making secret agreements with both
Assyria and Egypt to play them against each other,
would bring disaster.
Bethel (v. 4), the center of their abominable
idolatry, was the very spot where their father
Jacob had dedicated his life to God (Genesis
28:13-15).
Hos. 13 THE LORD’S ANGER
AGAINST ISRAEL
Guilty of Baal worship (v. 1): the addition of Baal
worship to Jeroboam I’s calf worship, under Ahab
(1 Kings 16:30-33), brought national death.
Hos. 14 ISRAEL WILL RETURN
TO GOD
The Lord’s wayward bride shall return to her
husband and once again respond to His love, as in
the days of her youth (2: 14-20).
Joel
The Coming Day of Judgment
The Promise of the Outpouring of God’s
Spirit
“And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and dreadful
day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved. ”
—Joel 2:28-32
The book of Joel, like that of Zephaniah, is a book
about coming judgment. Like the book of
Revelation, it predicts the harvest of the earth,
(3:13-14; Revelation 14:15-16). It also provides
a prediction of the Gospel Age and the
corresponding outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Date
There is no indication in the book as to the date of
writing. It is usually considered one of the earliest
of the prophets of Judah, in the time of Joash
(about 830 B.c,), or possibly in the reign of Uzziah
(about 750 b.c.).
Joel 1:1-2:27 THE PLAGUE OF
LOCUSTS
An appalling famine, caused by an unprecedented
plague of locusts followed by prolonged drought,
had devastated the land. The locust is an insect that
resembles a large grasshopper. The four different
names used in 1:4 indicate different species of
locusts or different stages of growth. Vast clouds of
locusts, darkening the sun, swarming upon the
earth, devouring every green thing, brought the
people to their knees. God heard their cry,
removed the locusts, and promised an era of
prosperity. These locusts suggest, and may
foreshadow, those in Revelation 9:1—11.
Joel 2:38-3:21 THE COMING
DAY OF GOD
In Acts 2:17-21, Peter quotes Joel 2:28-32 as a
prediction and explanation of what happened on
the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. This means that
God intended the passage to be a prophetic image
of the Gospel Era. ft would be a day of judgment
for the nations (3:1-12). Joel expresses this in
terms of the nations of his own time that were
enemies of Judah: Sidonians, Philistines,
Egyptians, and Edomites (3:4, 19).
But it meant more. The great battle in the valley
of Jehoshaphat (traditionally identified as the
Valley of Kidron on the east side of Jerusalem;
3:9-12) is spoken of in apocalyptic images: the
harvest is ripe (v. 13), the day of the Lord comes in
the valley of decision (v. 14), the Lord will roar
from Zion [Jerusalem] (v. 16), the earth and sky
will tremble (v. 16), and a fountain will flow out
of the Lord’s house (v. 18) — all of which is a
continuation of the thought of 2:28-32, which Peter
applied to the era of the Holy Spirit. So, as a
whole, the passage seems to be a picture of the
Christian age, in which God’s Word, embodied in
the Gospel of Christ and borne by the gracious
influences of the Holy Spirit to all mankind, would
be the sickle in a grand harvest of souls.
Amos
God’s Judgment on Israel
The Future Glory of David’s Kingdom
“Prepare to meet your God, O Israel. ”
He who forms the moun tains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth —
the Lord God Almighty is his name.
— Amos 4:12-13
Amos was a prophet of Judah, the southern
kingdom, with a message to Israel, the northern
kingdom, during the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judah
(792-740 B.c.), and Jeroboam II, king of Israel
(793-753 b.c.; 1:1).
Date
This prophecy seems to have been delivered on a
visit to Bethel (7:10-14), about 30 years before
the fall of Israel.
According to Josephus, the earthquake (1:1)
occurred at the time when Uzziah was struck by
leprosy (2 Chronicles 26: 16-21); this would place
Amos’s prophecy in about 750 b.c.
The reign of Jeroboam II had been very
successful. The kingdom had been considerably
enlarged (2 Kings 14:23-29). Israel was in the
high tide of prosperity, but brazen in its idolatry
and reeking with moral rottenness. It was a land of
swearing, stealing, injustice, oppression, robbery,
adultery, and murder.
It had been some 200 years since the Ten
Tribes had set up the northern kingdom, with calf
worship as its religion (1 Kings 12:25-33). During
part of this time, Baal worship also had been
adopted, and many of the abominable practices of
Canaanite idolatry were still rampant. God had
already sent the prophets Elijah, Elisha, and Jonah.
But to no avail. Israel, hardened in its idolatry and
wickedness, was speeding toward ruin when God
sent Amos and Hosea in a final effort to stop the
nation’s mad dash toward death.
Amos’s Contemporaries
The prophets of the Old Testament did not work in
total isolation from one another. There were
prophets in the period of the northern and southern
kingdoms who spoke but did not write. We only
have a record of the so-called writing prophets.
Some of the writing prophets could have known
each other, although we have no indication that
they in fact did.
We can speculate that as a boy, Amos could
have known Jonah and heard him tell of his visit to
Nineveh. He could also have known Elisha and
heard him tell of his association with Elijah. Jonah
and Elisha were passing off the stage as Amos was
coming on. Joel also may have been Amos’s
contemporary or a near predecessor. It may have
been Joel’s plague of locusts to which Amos refers
(4:9). Hosea may have been in Bethel at the time of
Amos’s visit. Hosea was the younger and
continued his work after Amos was gone, and
Isaiah and Micah were also beginning their
prophetic ministry as Amos was ending his.
Amos 1-2 DOOM OF ISRAEL
AND NEIGHBOR NATIONS
Amos starts with a general impeachment of the
whole region: Syria, Philistia, Phoenicia, Edom,
Ammon, Moab, Judah, and Israel — eight nations in
all. He arraigns each under the same formula, for
three sins, even for four, and specifies their
particular sins. He then centers his attention on
Israel.
Exile (Kjy captivity) is one of the key words
of the book (1:5, 15; 5:5, 27; 6:7; 7:9, 17). Within
30 years these predictions were fulfilled, and
Israel went from the zenith of its power to
destruction and exile.
Tekoa (1:1), the home of Amos, was 10 miles
southwest of Jerusalem, five miles from
Bethlehem, at an elevation of 2,700 feet, at the
edge of the pasturelands overlooking the bleak
wilderness of Judea. Amos would today be called
a layman, for he was neither a priest nor a
professional prophet, but a shepherd who also took
care of sycamore trees (7: 14). The sycamore was a
species of fig of poor quality, a cross between fig
and mulberry.
The earthquake (1:1) must have been very
severe, for it was remembered for 200 years
(Zechariah 14:5) and was ominously compared to
God’s Day of Judgment (Revelation 16:18).
Amos 3 THE LUXURIOUS
PALACES OF SAMARIA
Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, was
situated on a hill 300 feet high, in a valley of
surpassing beauty, surrounded on three sides by
mountains. It was as impregnable as it was
beautiful. Its palatial residences had been built on
the backs of the poor (2:6-7; 3:10; 5:11; 8:4-7),
with a heartlessness that would shock even the
heathen Egyptians and Philistines (3:9-10).
Bethel (v. 14), where Amos was speaking
(7:13), was one of the religious centers of the
northern kingdom, 12 miles north of Jerusalem.
Jeroboam I had set up a golden calf here to be
worshiped (1 Kings 12:25-33; the other golden
calf was set up at Dan in the north), which was
still there (Hosea 13:2). To this degenerate center
of idolatry came Amos with God’s final warning.
Amos 4 “PREPARE TO MEET
YOUR GOD”
The pampered ladies of Samaria (vv. 1-3) were
living in sumptuous indulgence on gains squeezed
out of the poor.
Cows of Bashan (v. 1) were fatted animals,
pampered until taken away for slaughter. Within a
few years these women would be taken away with
hooks (v. 2). Assyrians literally led their captives
by ropes attached to hooks through the lip.
Ironically, the Israelites were pitiless in their
cruelty, yet intensely religious (vv. 4-5). What a
satire on religion!
God’s repeated efforts to save them had been
in vain. The time had come for the nation to meet
its God (vv. 6-13).
Amos 5 THE DAY OF GOD
A lament over the fall of Israel (vv. 1-3), another
appeal to turn to God (vv. 4-9), and another
denunciation of their evil ways (vv. 10-27). Verses
18-26 seem to indicate that they were willing to
turn and offer sacrifices to God instead of to the
calf. However, what Amos wanted was not
sacrifices but a reformation of the heart, a radical
change in the way they lived.
Amos 6 THE CAPTIVITY
Over and over Amos contrasts the voluptuous ease,
palatial luxury, and feeling of security of the
leaders and the rich with the intolerable sufferings
that are about to befall them.
Amos 7 THREE VISIONS OF
DESTRUCTION
The locusts symbolize the destruction of the land.
Amos interceded, and God relented (vv. 1-3).
The fire is another symbol of the coming
destruction. Again Amos interceded, and again
God relented (vv. 4-6).
The plumb line indicates that the city is being
measured for destruction. Twice God had relented
— but no more. He had punished and punished, and
forgiven and forgiven. Their case was hopeless
(vv. 7-9).
How long Amos was at Bethel is not known.
But his repeated denunciations and warnings had a
great impact on the land (v. 10). Amaziah, the
priest at Bethel, reported to Jeroboam II that
Amos was “raising a conspiracy” (vv. 10-17). But
Amos grew bolder and bolder, telling Amaziah that
the priest himself would be a captive.
Amos 8 THE BASKET OF RIPE
FRUIT
This is another symbol that the sinful kingdom was
ripe for ruin. And Amos reiterates the causes:
greed, dishonesty, and merciless brutality toward
the poor. Over and over, through many images, the
Bible makes it plain that there is no possible way
to escape the consequences of persistent sin.
Amos 9 THE FUTURE GLORY
OF DAVID’S KINGDOM
Further prediction of exile (vv. 1-8). Within 30
years it came to pass, and the apostate kingdom
ceased to exist.
The restored throne of David (vv. 8-15). An
ever-recurrent prophetic vision of radiant days
beyond the gloom. Amos lived near Bethlehem, the
city of David. He took it to heart that the Ten
Tribes had renounced the Davidic throne, which
God had ordained for His people, and that for 200
years they had obstinately declined to return to its
fold.
God’s final word is this: in days to come,
David’s kingdom, which they had despised, will
recover and rule, not over one nation only, but over
a world of nations, in eternal glory.
Obadiah
The Doom of Edom
The kingdom will be the Lord’s.
— Obadiah 2 1
The Edomites
Edom was in a rocky range of mountains south of
the Dead Sea, stretching about 100 miles north and
south and about 20 miles east and west. It was
well watered, with abundant pasturage. Its capital
was Sela (es-Sela; now better known as Petra),
which was carved high in a perpendicular cliff far
back in the mountain canyons, overlooking a valley
of marvelous beauty. The Edomites would go out
on raiding expeditions and then retreat to their
impregnable strongholds high up in the rocky
gorges.
The Edomites were descendants of Esau, but
they were always bitter enemies of the Jews,
perpetuating the conflict between Esau and Jacob
(Genesis 25:23; 27:41). They refused passage to
Moses (Numbers 20:14-21) and were always
ready to aid an attacking army.
Date
Obadiah’s prophecy was occasioned by a
plundering of Jerusalem in which the Edomites
participated. There were four such plunderings:
1. In the reign of Jehoram, 853-841 B.c. (2
Chronicles 21:8, 16-17; Amos 1:6)
2. In the reign of Amaziah, 806-767 B.c. (2
Chronicles 25:11-12, 23-24)
3. In the reign of Ahaz, 735-716 b.c. (2
Chronicles 28:16-21)
4. In the reign of Zedekiah, 597-586 b.c. (2
Chronicles 36:11-21; Psalm 137:7)
There are various opinions as to which of these
four raids was the reason for Obadiah’s prophecy.
In asmuch as the destruction of Judah is mentioned
(vv. 11-12), the prophecy is generally assigned to
the reign of Zedekiah, when Jerusalem was burnt
by the Babylonians (586 B.c,).
Other Scriptures that foretell Edom’s doom are
Isaiah 34:5-15; Jeremiah 19:7-22; Ezekiel 25: 12—
14; 35: 1-15; Amos 1:11-12.
Fulfillment of the Prophecy
Obadiah predicted that the Edomites would be
destroyed forever and be as if they had never been
(vv. 10, 16, 18), and that a remnant of Judah would
be saved — the kingdom of Judah’s God would yet
prevail (vv. 17, 19, 21).
The end of the Edomite kingdom may have
come as a result of the campaigns of the Neo-
Babylonian ruler Nabonidus, sometime after 552
B.c. The Nabateans took over Edom’s territory. The
few Edomites that were left were confined to a
region in south Judea, where for four centuries they
continued to exist as active enemies of the Jews. In
126 B.c. they were subdued by John Hyrcanus, one
of the Maccabean rulers (see A Century of
Independence in the chapter The 400 Years
Between the Testaments), and were absorbed into
the Jewish state. When Palestine was conquered by
the Romans in 63 b.c., the Herods, an Edomite
(Idumean) family, were placed in charge of Judah.
This was the last hurrah of the Edomites. With the
destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, they
disappeared from history.
Jonah
An Errand of Mercy to Nineveh
On the first day, Jonah started into the city.
He proclaimed: “Forty more days and
Nineveh will be overturned. ”. . . The
Ninevites believed God. . . . When God saw
what they did and how they turned from
their evil ways, he had compassion and did
not bring upon them the destruction he had
threatened. . . . But Jonah was greatly
displeased and became angry.
— Jonah 3 : 4 - 5 , 10 ; 4:1
God said, “Nineveh has more than a
hundred and twenty thousand people who
cannot tell their right hand from their left,
and many cattle as well. Should I not be
concerned about that great city? ’’
— Jonah 4:11
Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire,
which dominated the Ancient Near East for about
300 years (900-605 B.c.). It began its rise to world
power about the time of the division of the Hebrew
kingdom, at the close of Solomon’s reign. It
gradually absorbed and destroyed the northern
kingdom of Israel.
Thus Jonah, whose name means “dove,” was
called by God to be a messenger. His message
would prolong the life of the enemy nation that was
already in the process of exterminating the northern
kingdom of Israel, his own nation. No wonder he
fled in the opposite direction — he was in patriotic
dread of the brutal and relentless military machine
that was closing in on God’s people.
Jonah was a native of Gath Hepher. He lived in
the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753 b.c.) and helped
recover some of Israel’s lost territory (2 Kings
14:25). Thus, Jonah was a statesman as well as a
prophet. His mission to Nineveh might even have
been considered treasonous by some.
Is the Book Historical?
Because of the fish story, unbelieving minds rebel
at accepting the book as factual. They call it
fiction, or an allegory, or a parable, or a prose
poem. Jesus unmistakably regarded it as historical
fact (Matthew 12:39-41). It takes considerable
straining to make anything else out of Jesus’
language. He called it a “sign” of His own
resurrection. He put the fish, the repentance of the
Ninevites, His resurrection, and the Judgment Day
in the same category. He surely was talking of
reality when He spoke of His resurrection and the
Judgment Day. Thus Jesus accepted the Jonah
story, and for us that settles it. We believe that it
actually occurred just as recorded; that Jonah
himself, under the direction of God’s Spirit, wrote
the book, with no attempt to excuse his own
unworthy behavior; and that the book, under the
direction of God’s Spirit, was placed among the
sacred writings in the temple as a part of God’s
unfolding revelation of Himself.
The fish. The word means “great fish” or “sea
monster,” rather than “whale.” Many “sea
monsters” have been found large enough to
swallow a man. However, the point of the story is
that it was a miracle, a divine attestation of Jonah’s
mission to Nineveh. Except for some such
astounding miracle, the Ninevites would have paid
little attention to Jonah (Luke 11:30).
God’s Purpose in Sending Jonah to Nineveh
• Mainly, it seems to have been intended by
God as a hint to His own nation that He was
also interested in other gentile nations. Israel
was jealous of its favored relationship with
God and was unwilling to share the Lord’s
compassion with the Gentiles.
• It may have postponed the destruction of
Israel, for “violence” was one of the things
the Ninevites repented of (3:8).
• Jonah’s home was Gath Hepher (2 Kings
14:25), near Nazareth, the home of Jesus, of
whom Jonah was a “sign.”
• Jesus quoted Jonah’s rescue as a prophetic
picture of His own resurrection on the “third”
day (Matthew 12:40).
• Joppa, where Jonah embarked to avoid
preaching to another nation, was the very
place God chose, 800 years later, to tell Peter
to receive people from other nations (Acts
10).
Assyrian Kings Who Were
Involved with Israel
• Shalmaneser III (858-824 b.c.). Began to
“cut off Israel” (2 Kings 17:3-4)
• Adad-Nirari III (810-782). Took tribute
from Israel. Jonah’s visit
• Tiglath-pileser III (745-727). Deported
most of the northern part of the northern
kingdom, Israel
• Shalmaneser V (727-722). Besieged
Samaria
• Sargon II (721-705). Deported the rest
of Israel (See Isaiah)
• Sennacherib (704-681). Invaded Judah
(See Isaiah)
• Esar-Haddon (681-669). Very powerful
• Ashurbanipal (668-626). Most powerful
and brutal (See Nahum?)
Two weak kings followed (626-607), and the
giant empire fell in 605 b.c.
i i
So, all in all, the story of Jonah is a grand
historical picture of the Messiah’s resurrection and
mission to all nations. (The other prophet who
spoke against Nineveh was Nahum; see Nahum.)
Jonah 1 JONAH’S FLIGHT
Tarshish (v. 3) is thought to have been Tartessus, a
Phoenician mining colony in southwestern Spain,
near Gibraltar. Jonah was heading for the farthest
end of the then known world.
Jonah 2 JONAH’S PRAYER
He must have been used to praying in the words of
the Psalms, so like this beautiful prayer. His return
landing may have been near Joppa and may have
been witnessed by many.
Joppa is the only natural harbor between the Bay of Acco
(near modern Haifa) and the Egyptian frontier. Today it takes a
great deal of imagination to think of Joppa as the place where
Jonah left on a risky sea voyage, disobedient to God because
he refused to help his nation’s enemies.
Jonah 3:5-9 NINEVEH’S
REPENTANCE
Jonah, in his preaching, no doubt told of his
experience with the fish, with witnesses
accompanying him to verify his story. Speaking in
the name of the God of the nation the Ninevites had
begun to plunder, they took him seriously and
became terrified.
Jonah 3:10-4:4 JONAH’S
DISAPPOINTMENT
He had come, not to seek the Ninevites’
repentance, but to announce their doom. But God
was pleased at their repentance and deferred
punishment, much to Jonah’s chagrin. (See further
under Nahum)
Jonah 4: 5-11 GOD’S LOVE FOR
ALL OF HIS CREATION
Jonah was angry with God for showing
compassion on Nineveh, an enemy of Israel. God
wanted Jonah to understand His compassion for the
Gentiles so He set up a situation that would help
Jonah see God’s love for His creation. God made a
vine grow up over the place where Jonah sat.
Jonah appreciated the protection from the sun that
the vine provided. The next day, God removed the
vine and Jonah grieved for the loss of the vine.
God pointed out to Jonah how he was mourning the
loss of a simple vine in which he had invested
nothing. God used this situation to illustrate to
Jonah how much more God grieves for this
creation, including the people and animals of
Nineveh.
Jonah's Journey
Black Sea
ASSYRIAN’ EMPIRE
IntofKJod journey
Actual journey
100 200 min
Micah
The Impending Fall of Israel and Judah
The Messiah Will Be Born at Bethlehem
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans oj
Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times. ”
— Micah 5:2
Micah prophesied in Judah, the southern kingdom,
during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
Jotham and Hezekiah were good kings; Ahaz was
extremely wicked. Thus Micah witnessed the
apostasy of the government as well as its recovery.
His home was Moresheth, on the Philistine border,
near Gath, about 30 miles southwest of Jerusalem
He was a contemporary of the prophets Isaiah and
Hosea.
Micah’s message was to both Israel and Judah
and was addressed primarily to their capitals,
Samaria and Jerusalem The three main ideas in
Micah’s message are the sins of Samaria and
Jerusalem, their destruction, and their restoration.
These three ideas are intermingled in the book,
with abrupt transitions between present desolation
and future glory.
Mic. 1 SAMARIA DOOMED
Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom,
whose rulers were directly responsible for the
pervasive national corruption (v. 5). Since their
apostasy from God 200 years before (1 Kings 12),
they had adopted calf worship and Baal worship
and had adopted other Canaanite, Syrian, and
Assyrian idols and idolatrous practices. God had
sent Elijah, Elisha, and Amos (1 Kings 7-2 Kings
2; 2 Kings 3-13) to turn them back from idols. But
in vain. They were about ripe for the death blow.
Micah lived to see his words come true (v. 6). In
734 B.c. the Assyrians deported all of the northern
part of Israel, and in 722 Samaria itself became a
“heap of rubble.”
The places named in vv. 10-15 were in the
western foothills of Judah, Micah’s home territory.
They were eventually devastated by Sennacherib
of Assyria in his campaign of 701 B.c., during
which he claims to have destroyed 46 strong-
walled cities of Judah — probably including those
mentioned by Micah.
Mic. 2-3 THE BRUTALITY OF
THE RULERS
In addition to their idolatry (1:5-7), the ruling
classes were merciless in their treatment of the
poor, seizing their fields, even their clothes, and
ejecting women with small children from their
homes. On top of all this, their priests were
fortune-tellers who condoned their unjust and cruel
practices and used the Lord as a talisman: “Is not
the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon
us” (3:11). Micah, having mentioned the captivity
(1:16), now abruptly pictures their restoration,
with God marching at their head (2:12-13).
Mic. 3 JERUSALEM ALSO
INDICTED
Micah continues to rebuke the leaders of Israel for
the wanton and inhuman cruelty of the ruling
classes. But Jerusalem is as bad as Samaria (v.
10) , in particular the religious leaders (vv. 5-7,
11) . Then Micah pronounces the doom of
Jerusalem (v. 12), as he had earlier predicted the
fall of Samaria (1:6).
Watchtower in a vineyard in Judah: “As for you, O watchtower
of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion, the former
dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to the
Daughter of Jerusalem” (Micah 4:8).
Mic. 4 ZION’S UNIVERSAL
REIGN
Micah now shifts abruptly to a vision of a warless,
happy, prosperous, God-fearing world, with Zion
at its head. What a contrast! Micah 4:1-3 is the
same as Isaiah 2:2-4 — sublime, grand words that
are worthy of repetition.
Suddenly, in the midst of this rhapsody of the
future, the prophet reverts to his own troubled
times and the doom of Jerusalem, which he had just
mentioned (3:12), announcing that the people will
be carried away captive to Babylon (4:10). It is an
amazing prophecy. At the time Micah prophesied,
Assyria was sweeping everything before it. This
was 100 years before the rise of the Babylonian
Empire. Yet Jerusalem survived the Assyrian
onslaught and outlived Assyria, which was
overthrown by Babylonia — which would destroy
Jerusalem in 586 B.c. and deport its people to
Babylonia.
Mic. 5 ZION’S COMING KING
A ruler from Bethlehem shall be at the head of
Zion. In 4:1-8, Micah describes the glorious
future; in 4:9-10, he goes back to the Exile; in
4:11-12, he goes further back, to his own time, to
describe the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians.
In 4:13, there is again a forward sweep to the
future.
Then, in 5:1, Micah returns to the siege of
Jerusalem. This is the setting for the appearance of
the deliverer from Bethlehem (vv. 2-5). InMicah’s
own day it referred to the deliverance from
Assyria (5-6). But beyond the horizon, in the dim
distance, loomed the majestic figure of the coming
Messianic King, who made His advent from
eternity (“from of old, from ancient times,” v. 2) by
way of Bethlehem. Zion’s deliverance from
Assyria by the Angel of God (2 Kings 19:35; 2
Chronicles 32:21; Isaiah 37:35) was, in some
respects, a foreshadowing of a coming greater
deliverance by the Savior of all humanity. Many
Old Testament predictions of Christ were blurred
because they were viewed through the historic
situations of the prophet’s own times, yet too clear
to be mistaken. Unquestionably the eternal Ruler
from Bethlehem (v. 2) is to be identified with the
wonderful Child of Isaiah 9:6-7. This is the only
place in the Old Testament where it is specifically
stated that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem
(see under Matthew 2:22).
Mic.
6
JEHOVAH’S
CONTROVERSY WITH HIS
PEOPLE
Again, the sins of Micah’s times: ingratitude
toward God, religious pretense, dishonesty,
idolatry — and certain punishment.
Mic. 7 ZION’S FINAL TRIUMPH
Micah laments the prevailing treachery, violence,
and bloodthirstiness. He promises punishment, yet
closes with a vision of the future when God, with
His people, shall rule and the promises to
Abraham will be completely fulfilled at last.
Nahum
The Doom of Nineveh
Who can withstand his indignation ?
Who can endure his fierce anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire;
the rocks are shattered before him.
— Nahum 1:6
The Lord is good,
a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him.
— Nahum 1:7
Two of the so-called Minor Prophets spoke
exclusively to and about Nineveh, the capital of the
Assyrian Empire:
• Jonah, in about 770 B.c., delivered a message
of mercy to the great city.
• Nahum, 120 years later (650 B.c.) spoke a
message of doom.
• Zephaniah, a contemporary of Nahum, also
predicted Nineveh’s destruction.
• In addition, Isaiah, who ministered midway
between Jonah and Nahum, predicted the fall
of the Assyrians (Isaiah 10).
Together they illustrate God’s way of dealing
with nations: prolonging the day of grace, in the
end sending punishment for sins.
The Prophet Nahum
Little is known of Nahum, whose name means
“comfort.” He is identified as “the Elkoshite.”
Since the 16th century, an Arab tradition has
identified Elkosh with A1 Ovosh, a village near
modern Mosul in Iraq. Byzantine writers —
including Eusebius and Jerome — however,
understood the prophet’s home to be somewhere in
Galilee. Many have speculated that the New
Testament Capernaum (“Town of Nahum”) was
home to him, but there is no proof of this, nor are
there any remains there from the 7th century B.c.
Nahum’s Date
The book itself indicates the time frame within
which it belongs. Thebes (Hebrew name: No-
Amon) had fallen (3:8-10; 663 b.c.). The fall of
Nineveh, which took place in 612 B.c., is still in
the future. Thus Nahum wrote between 663 and
612 b.c.
Nahum pictures Nineveh in the full swing of its
glory. Its troubles began with the Scythian invasion
(626 B.c.), and it may be a good guess to place this
prophecy shortly before the Scythian invasion
(between 630 and 624 b.c.) — which would make
Nahum a contemporary of Zephaniah, who also
predicted the ruin of Nineveh in language of
amazing vividness (Zephaniah 2: 13-15). (See also
Jonah .)
Nahum 1-3 NINEVEH’S UTTER
RUIN
Throughout these three chapters, in language
spoken partly about Nineveh and partly to
Nineveh, the city’s destruction is foretold in
astonishing and graphic detail.
God’s “slowness to anger” (1:3) may have
been mentioned as a reminder of Jonah’s visit to
Nineveh years before. God’s wrath (1:2-8),
throughout the Bible, is the opposite of His mercy.
The fall of “the city of blood” (3:1) would be
news of immense joy to the world it had so
pitilessly crushed, especially Judah.
The great number of protecting canals along the
edges of the walls gave Nineveh an appearance
“like a pool [of] water” (2:8).
Zephaniah predicted the fall of Nineveh in
these words: “This is the carefree city that lived in
safety. She said to herself, ‘I am, and there is none
besides me.’ What a ruin she has become, a lair for
wild beasts! All who pass by her scoff and shake
their fists” (Zephaniah2:15).
Habakkuk
The Invasion of Judah and the Doom of
the Chaldeans
“The righteous will live by his faith. ”
— Habakkuk 2:4
“For the earth will be filled with the
knowledge
of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea. ”
— Habakkuk 2:14
This prophecy belongs to the period between 625
and 606 B.c, It probably dates to about 607 B.c.,
early in Jehoiakim’s reign. The Chaldeans
(Babylonians) were sweeping westward (1:6), but
had not yet reached Judah (3:16).
The chronology of the period:
641-601 B.c. King Josiah’s great
reformation; the prophet Zephaniah.
625 B.c. Babylon declares its independence
from Assyria.
612 B.c. The Babylonians destroy Nineveh.
609 B.c, Jehoahaz reigns three months and is
taken to Egypt.
609-598 B.c. Jehoiakim, a very wicked king;
the prophet Habakkuk(?)
605 B.c, The Babylonians invade Judah and
take captives.
597 B.c, Jehoiachin reigns three months and
is taken to Babylon.
597-586 B.c, Zedekiah, a weak, wicked
king; he is taken to Babylon.
586 B.c. Jerusalem is burned; the land is
desolated.
Hab. 1:1-11 HABAKKUK’S
COMPLAINT
The prophecy is a complaint to God that He allows
His own nation to be destroyed for its wickedness
by a nation that is even more wicked. Habakkuk
could not see the justice in this. God’s answer is
that He does have a purpose in the terrorizing
conquests of the Chaldean armies.
Hab. 1:12-2:20 HABAKKUK’S
SECOND COMPLAINT
Acknowledging that Judah deserves correction and
punishment for her sins, Habakkuk asks for further
enlightenment. God’s answer is that the
Babylonians, drunk with the blood of nations, shall
themselves be destroyed — and God’s people shall
yet fill the earth.
Hab. 3 HABAKKUK’S PRAYER
A cry to God to again perform His miracles, as He
had done in the past. Yet Habakkuk speaks with
sublime resignation and confidence in the eternal
security of God’s people (16-19). The lesson of
the book is, “The righteous will live by his faith”
(2:4). Faith is the ability to feel so sure of God
that, no matter how dark the day, there is no doubt
as to the outcome. For God’s people there is a
glorious future. It may be a long way off, but it is
absolutely sure. Thus, in the midst of his gloom and
despair, Habakkuk could be an optimist of the first
magnitude.
Zephaniah
The Great Day of God Is at Hand
Sing, O Daughter of Zion;
shout aloud, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
0 Daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.
— Zephaniah 3:14-15
Zephaniah, who prophesied in the days of King
Josiah (1:1), was a great-great-grandson of King
Hezekiah (1:1), which made him a relative of King
Josiah (641-609 B.c.). Josiah, who came to the
throne after the 55-year-long wicked reign of
Manasseh, brought about a great reformation (see
under 2 Chronicles 34), in which the prophet
Zephaniah was a prime mover.
This prophecy was thus uttered not many years
before Judah’s day of doom struck: in 586 B.c. the
Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and took the
people of Judah to Babylonia.
Zeph. 1: 1-2:3 AN IMPENDING
DAY OF WRATH FOR JUDAH
The Day of Judgment — called the Day of the Lord,
the great day of the Lord, the day of the Lord’s
wrath — is mentioned over and over (1:7, 8, 9, 10,
14, 15, 16, 18; 2:2, 3; 3:8). It will be a day of
terror and is about to come upon Judah and the
surrounding nations. This is an unmistakable
reference to the Babylonian invasion and to
Judah’s captivity, which followed 20 years after
this prophecy. Finally, it may also be a sort of
symbolic depiction of the catastrophes that will
happen at the time of the end, pictured more fully
in the book of Revelation.
Molech (or Moloch)
Molech (1:5) is the god especially of the
Ammonites. To please some of his wives,
Solomon introduced Molech worship in Israel
(1 Kings 11:7). The worship of Molech
involved child sacrifices. During and after the
time of King Manasseh, the main place for the
worship of Molech was the Valley of Ben
Hinnom (2 Chronicles 33:6), whose Hebrew
name ( ge-hinnom ) later was used as a Greek
name for hell ( gehenna ) because of the evil
committed there.
Zeph. 2:4-3:8 A DAY OF WRATH
FOR THE NATIONS
Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron (v. 4) were cities
of the Philistines. “Kerethite people ” (2:5) is
another name for Philistines. Cushites (2:12):
Cush was south of Egypt and north of Ethiopia; at
the time of Zephaniah, a Cushite dynasty ruled
Egypt.
Within 20 years all these lands — Philistia,
Moab, Ammon, Cush, and Assyria, the terror of the
world, with its proud capital Nineveh — would lay
desolate under the heel of Babylon.
The assembly of the nations and the pouring out
of God’s wrath on them (3:8) may also be a
foreshadowing of God’s judgment poured out of
the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth in
Revelation 16:1. In v. 8 God declares that the
whole world will be consumed by fire. This may
be a prediction of the lake of fire (Revelation
20:14) into which all evil will be thrown, leaving
the earth purified as described in Revelation 20-
21 .
Zeph. 3:9-20 THE COMING OF A
“PURE LANGUAGE”
The calm after the storm. Three times the prophet
speaks of a remnant being saved (2:3, 7; 3:12-13),
and twice he mentions their return from captivity
(2:7; 3:20). Then the Lord will “purify the lips of
the peoples” so that they may all, near and far,
worship God. Pure lips are lips that speak truth
and worship in truth. This is the prediction of a
complete and perfect revelation of God. As a
result of this revelation, converts from among all
nations will be brought to God, joyful with glad
songs of redemption, so that all the earth will
resound with the praise of God’s people.
These passages seem to predict the millennial
reign of Christ (Revelation 20:4-6) on earth that
will follow the tribulation. God’s final judgment of
Satan and the inhabitants of the earth follows this
period of peace. Then God’s grand finale presents
us with a new heaven and a new earth that is pure
and where God lives with His people (Revelation
21 - 22 ).
Haggai
I I
Make Rebuilding the Temple Your Priority
‘The glory of this present house will be
greater than the glory of the former house, ’
says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place 1
will grant peace, ’ declares the Lord
Almighty. ”
— Haggai 2:9
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
These three prophets belong to the period after the
return from the Babylonian captivity or exile
(which is why they are also called the post-exilic
prophets). The story of this period is told in the
books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. (See under
Ezra.)
Haggai and Zechariah urged the people to
finish rebuilding the temple, which had been begun
but not finished (520-516 B.c.). Malachi is thought
to have been associated with Nehemiah, nearly
100 years later, in the rebuilding of the walls of
Jerusalem.
The dates of Zechariah’s recorded messages
are best correlated with those of Haggai and with
other historical events as shown on the table
below.
Haggai and His Book
Haggai may have been an old man who had seen
the first temple (2:3). His book consists of four
brief discourses: 1:1-11 (followed by a response
of Zerubbabel and the people, 1:12-15); 2:1-9;
2: 10-19; 2:20-23.
The Situation
Judah had been conquered, Jerusalem burned, the
temple demolished, and the people carried away to
Babylon (605-586 B.c,, as told in 2 Kings 24-25).
After 70 years’ captivity, about 50,000 Jews had
returned to their own land, by edict of King Cyrus
(538 b.c.), and had begun to rebuild the temple. But
soon after they laid the foundation, the work was
stopped by their enemy neighbors.
Nothing further was done for 15 years. In the
meantime, a new king, Darius, had ascended the
Persian throne. He was kindly disposed toward the
Jews. And under the preaching of Haggai and
Zechariah, work was resumed, and the temple was
completed in four years (520-516 B.c.). But
Jerusalem was still a city without a wall: the wall
of Jerusalem was not built until about 70 years
later, under Nehemiah.
538 B.c.
50,000 Jews, under Zerubbabel, return to
Jerusalem.
536 B.c,
In the 7th month they build the altar and offer
sacrifices.
535 b.c.
In the 2nd month work on the temple begins
and is stopped.
August 29 Haggai’s 1st message (Haggai 1:1-
11; Ezra 5:1).
September 21 Resumption of the building of
the temple (Haggai 1:12-15; Ezra 5:2). The
rebuilding seems to have been hindered from
536 to about 530 (Ezra 4:1-5), and the work
ceased altogether from about 530 to 520
(Ezra 4:24).
October 17 Haggai ’s 2nd message (Haggai
2:1-9).
October/November Beginning of Zechariah’s
preaching (Zechariah 1 : 1-6).
December 18. Haggai’s 3rd message (Haggai
2:10-19).
December 18 Haggai’s 4th message (Haggai
2:20-23).
519-518 b.c,
Tattenai’s letter to Darius concerning the
rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 5:3-6:14).
There must have been a lapse of time between
the resumption of the building and Tattenai’s
appearance.
519 B.c.
February 15 Zechariah’s eight night visions
(Zechariah 1 :7— 6:8).
February 16(?) Joshua’s crowning (Zechariah
6:9-15).
518 b.c,
December 7 Urging of repentance, promise of
blessings (Zechariah 7-8).
516 B.c.
March 12 Dedication of the temple (Ezra
6:15-18).
After 480(?) b.c,
Zechariah’s final prophecy (Zechariah 9-14).
458 B.c,
Ezra comes to Jerusalem and makes certain
reforms.
444 B.c,
Nehemiah rebuilds the wall. Period of
Malachi.
Hag. 1 WORK ON THE TEMPLE
BEGINS
Fifteen years earlier, the foundation of the temple
had been laid (Ezra 3:10), but nothing more had
been done since then. The people had lost interest.
God, speaking through Haggai, informs them that
this was the reason for their poor crops. One of the
most insistent Old Testament teachings is that
national adversity is due to national disobedience
to God.
Haggai ’s message had an immediate effect.
People accepted it as God’s word, and in less than
a month, work on the temple was underway.
Hag. 2 THE FUTURE GLORY OF
GOD’S HOUSE
Within another month, the old foundations had been
cleared sufficiently to reveal the outline of the
building. Then Haggai came forward with his
vision of the temple’s future, beside whose glory
Solomon’s temple itself would pale into
insignificance.
This is distinctly a messianic vision. Haggai’s
mind was on the temple he was helping Zerubbabel
build. But his words were God’s words, and
God’s mind, in a sense deeper perhaps than even
Haggai himself realized, was on another temple,
yet to come, of which Solomon’s temple and
Zerubbabel’s temple were but dim pictures. This
temple would be the church, built not of stones, but
of the souls of the redeemed (1 Corinthians 3: lb-
17; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21). This is
the temple of which Haggai speaks.
Shake the heavens and the earth (vv. 6-7).
Though this may have had immediate reference to
political upheavals, it is quoted in Hebrews 12:26
as referring to the judgment of the nations at the
second coming of Christ.
The desired of all nations (v. 7) may refer to
the Messiah. Or it may refer to people (“the highly
esteemed, the leaders”) or articles of value, such
as King Darius’s gift to the temple (Ezra 6:8).
It was midwinter (v. 10). The earth had not yet
had time to bear its crops. But the people had
stirred themselves and had put their hands to the
task of building God’s house. And God promises
that henceforth their crops would be sure. Since
we know that God’s promises are good for all
ages, there is practical application in these verses.
If we build only our own houses (live a self-
centered life), our harvest in life will be limited.
But if we make building God’s house (build the
church, Christ’s body) our priority, then all the rest
will be given to us and our harvest will be great.
Haggai closes with a vision of the crowning of
Zerubbabel, who represented David’s family (see
under Zechariah 4).
Zechariah
Rebuilding the Temple
Visions of the Coming Messiah and His
Universal Kingdom
“This is what the Lord Almighty says:
Administer true justice; show mercy and
compassion to one another Do not oppress
the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the
poor In your hearts do not think evil of each
other. ’
— Zechariah 7:9-10
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
— Zechariah9:9
Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai. Both
ministered during the time immediately after the
first return from the Babylonian exile, when the
temple in Jerusalem was being rebuilt (see Returns
from Exile (538, 458, and 444 B.c. l in the chapter
on The Babylonian Exile and the Return from
Exile: Ezra-Esther). While Haggai seems to have
been an old man, it seems that Zechariah was a
young man, for he was a grandson of Iddo, who
had returned to Jerusalem 16 years before
(Nehemiah 12:4, 16).
Haggai had been preaching for two months, and
the work on the temple had already started, when
Zechariah began his ministry. Haggai ’s total
recorded ministry lasted a little less than four
months, Zechariah’s about two years. But they
were no doubt on hand during the entire four-year
period during which the temple was rebuilt,
exhorting and helping.
The book of Zechariah is considerably larger
than that of Haggai. It teems with messianic
flashes, mentioning many details of the life and
work of Christ.
Zech. 1:1-6 THE CAPTIVITY
DUE TO DISOBEDIENCE
This opening message of Zechariah came between
Haggai ’s second and third messages (between vv.
9 and 10 of Haggai 2), when work on the temple
was a little over a month along and its unimposing
appearance and lack of splendor were
disheartening to the people. Some people were old
enough to remember Solomon’s temple, which had
been destroyed more than 50 years earlier. Those
who were born in Babylonia had heard their
parents tell about the temple and its beauty, and
they may well have formed a mental image of the
old temple that was even grander than the temple
really had been.
Zechariah warns against their evident rising
tendency to return to the ways of their disobedient
fathers, which had brought them to their present
pitiful condition in the first place. He then
proceeds to encourage them with visions God had
given him of the magnificent future.
Zech. 1:7-17 THE VISION OF
THE HORSES
The only indication in the first six chapters as to
the time of the visions is in 1:7, when work on the
temple was about five months along. So we assume
that the visions came one after the other and were
written down at the time.
God’s messages through the prophets generally
came by the direct moving of God’s Spirit on a
prophet’s mind. But here they are given through an
angel, who talks back and forth with the prophet.
This vision of the horses means that the whole
world was at rest under the iron hand of the
Persian Empire, whose king, Darius, was
favorably disposed toward the Jews and had
decreed that the temple should be built. This vision
concludes with the proclamation that Jerusalem
shall once again be a great and prosperous city
(see below, under chapter 2).
Zech. 1:18-21 THE VISION OF
FOUR HORNS AND FOUR
CRAFTSMEN
The four horns represent the nations that had
destroyed Judah and Israel. The four craftsmen
(Kjy carpenters) represent God’s destroyers of
those nations. It was a figurative way of saying that
the prevailing world powers would be broken and
that Judah would again be exalted. God is on the
throne, even when His people are temporarily
vanquished. These verses provide insight into the
interpretation of Revelation 13:1 and 17:12, where
“horns” are also used to symbolize nations.
Zech. 2 THE VISION OF THE
MEASURING LINE
This grand chapter is a forecast of a Jerusalem so
populous and prosperous and secure that it will
overflow its walls, since God Himself is its
protection. Work on the temple, five months along,
progressed nicely, and the people no doubt were
making plans to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem,
which, as it turned out, was not built until 75 years
later. But their plans to rebuild are the setting for
this vision of the day when “many nations” shall
come to the God of the Jews and will be His
people.
Zech. 3 THE VISION OF JOSHUA
THE HIGH PRIEST
A pre- vision of the atonement of Christ. Joshua the
high priest is clothed in filthy garments,
symbolizing the sinfulness of the people. Joshua’s
filthy garments are removed, meaning that the
people’s sins are forgiven and they are accepted by
God. It is a picture of the time when the sins of
humanity will be removed “in one day” (v. 9), as
the coming “Branch” in David’s house (the
Messiah; v. 8 and 6:12) is “pierced” (12:10), and
“a fountain will be opened to cleanse them from
sin” (13:1; see further under 13:1-9).
Zech. 4 THE LAMPSTAND AND
TWO OLIVE TREES
What is said here is meant directly for Zerubbabel
and the temple he was building. But there is an
unmistakable reference to a later, more glorious
house, to be built by a descendant of Zerubbabel,
called the Branch. It is an exhortation to take
courage, in the day of small beginnings, by keeping
our eyes on the grandeur of the end. The
candlestick is a symbolic representation of God’s
house, or the light-bearing qualities of God’s
house. The lampstand was in the tabernacle and in
the temple. In Revelation 1:20 the lampstand
represents the church. The two olive trees seem to
represent Joshua and Zerubbabel. In chapter 3 the
vision was specially for Joshua; here it is
specially for Zerubbabel. The imagery here is
carried over into the vision of the “two witnesses”
in Revelation 11. Some people believe that the
witnesses represent Moses and Elijah.
Zech. 5:1-4 THE FLYING
SCROLL
A sheet, like an unrolled wall map, 30 feet long
and 15 feet wide, inscribed with curses against
stealing and swearing, soars over the land; it
removes sin by destroying the sinners.
Zech. 5:5-10 THE FLYING
BASKET
Another representation of the removal of sin. A
basket, looking like a small bushel basket (the
basket holds one ephah, or three-fifths bushel) and
containing a woman, is taken away, out of the land,
by two other women. While sin is here represented
by a woman, it is also by women that she is
removed (v. 9). Might this possibly be a prophetic
hint that the coming Branch, the Messiah who
would remove people’s sin in one day (3:8-9),
would be brought into the world by a woman
without the agency of man? The imagery here is
somewhat similar to that of the scapegoat of
Leviticus 16, on whose head the sins of the people
were placed and borne away into the wilderness.
Zech. 6:1-8 THE FOUR
CHARIOTS
The chariots are messengers of God’s judgments,
patrolling the earth, executing the decrees of God
on Israel’s enemies. This is an expansion of the
thought in the vision of the horns and the craftsmen
(1:18-21).
I I
Zech. 6:9-15 THE CORONATION
OF JOSHUA
This is a prophetically symbolic act, expanding on
the vision of the Branch (3:8-9) and the vision
about Zerubbabel (4:6-9).
The Branch (v. 12) is the name of the coming
Messiah in David’s family (Isaiah 4:2; 11:1, 10;
Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-17; Revelation 5:5;
22:16).
Zerubbabel, the governor, was a grandson of
King Jehoiachin, who had been carried to Babylon,
and thus was heir to David’s throne. What is said
of Zerubbabel refers in part to himself personally
and in part to his family — that is, David’s family —
and more particularly to the one great
representative of David’s family, the coming
Messiah.
To David’s family God had, among other
things, assigned the task of building God’s house.
To David himself God gave, in His own
handwriting, the plans and specifications of the
temple (1 Chronicles 28:11, 19), and according to
those specifications David’s son Solomon built the
temple (2 Chronicles 2-7), the most magnificent
building in all the world at that time. Zerubbabel, a
descendant of David, was now (520-516 B.c.)
engaged in rebuilding the temple. He was assured
that he would bring it to completion (4:6-9), with
mystic hints of yet another temple to be built by the
Branch, with help from “those who are far away”
(6:12-15).
The Branch was to be of ZerubbabeTs
(David’s) family, the kingly line (from the tribe of
Judah). But here Joshua the priest (from the tribe of
Levi) is crowned and is represented as the Branch,
sitting on the throne of David (6:12-13). This
would appear to represent a symbolic merging of
the two offices of king and priest in the coming
Messiah.
Zech. 7-8 QUESTIONS ABOUT
FASTING
For 70 years the people had been fasting in the
fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months (8:19) to
mourn the destruction of the temple. Now that it
looked as if they were soon to have a temple again,
the question arose as to whether these fasts should
be continued. In reply, Zechariah reminds them that
there had been good reason for their fasts:
penitence for past disobedience and the resulting
suffering. But now their fasts had become a mere
outward pretense, a way to exhibit their own
holiness, and their religious feasts were for their
own pleasure.
Then, following prophetic custom of
alternating scenes of present distress and future
glory, Zechariah draws a picture of the age when
fasts shall be joyful feasts (8:19).
The Jews — once a mighty nation with ancient
traditions that said they had been designed by their
God to be the leading people of all the world —
were now an insignificant and despised remnant
who existed in their own land only by permission
of Persian kings. Zechariah tried hard to encourage
the people by repeating over and over that it would
not be forever thus: soon the mighty empire that
then ruled would be broken, and God’s people
would yet come into their own.
Zechariah’s picture of a prosperous and
peaceful Zion, its streets full of happy boys and
girls and old men and old women (8:3-5), of a
Zion that is the center of the world’s civilization,
where all the nations of the earth come to learn of
the God of the Jews (8:22-23), is also found in
other passages (1: 17; 2:4, 11; 14:8, 16).
i l
Zech. 9-11 GOD’S JUDGMENTS
ON NEIGHBORING NATIONS
Chapters 9-14 contain things that have evident
reference to the conquest by Alexander the Great
and its aftermath, which came 200 years after
Zechariah.
Chapter 9 seems to be a forecast of Judah’s
struggle with Greece. Alexander the Great, when
he invaded Palestine in 332 B.c,, devastated the
cities named in vv. 1-7, in the order in which they
are named, and yet spared Jerusalem (v. 8). Verses
13-17 seem to refer to the continuation of Judah’s
struggle against the Greek Ptolemies and Seleucids
into the Maccabean period (see Under Syrian Rule
(The Seleucids) in the chapter on The 400 Years
Between the Testaments). Throughout history and
even today Judah (Israel) continues to struggle
with its neighbors.
A picture of Zion’s coming King (9:9-10) is
here set amid scenes of Judah’s fierce struggle
with Greece. Verse 9 is quoted in the New
Testament as referring to the Triumphal Entry of
Christ into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:5; John 12:15).
In the same breath (v. 10), the prophet sweeps
forward to the day of final triumph — from a
glimpse at the beginning of Messiah’s kingdom to a
glimpse at the end.
Chapter 10 is a forecast of the full restoration
of God’s scattered people. In Zechariah’s day only
a small remnant had returned.
Chapter 11 is a parable of shepherds. God’s
flock had been scattered and slaughtered because
their shepherds had been false. In the arraignment
of the false shepherds is a picture of their rejection
of the Good Shepherd (vv. 12-13). We might not,
from the context, connect this passage with the
betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot, except that it
is so quoted in the New Testament (Matthew
26:15; 27:9-10). The fact that it is so quoted is a
key to God’s meaning in the passage. The rejection
of their true Shepherd was accompanied by the
breaking of the two staffs called Favor and Union
— that is, the covenant of God’s protecting care
and the postponement of their reunion in the land.
When we stray from our relationship with God, we
withdraw from God’s protective care and fall short
of our own land of promise and blessing.
Then they are delivered into the hands of the
worthless shepherd (vv. 15-17). This is thought to
refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Romans, shortly after the death of Christ, and the
consequent scattering of the Jews (the Diaspora);
or it may be the personification of the whole list of
those who persecute the Jews, from the Maccabean
period to the time of the beast of Revelation 13.
Zech. 12-14 A VISION OF
ISRAEL’S FUTURE
Chapters 9-11 are called an “oracle” (a message
corning from God) concerning neighboring nations
(9:1); chapters 12-14 are called an “oracle”
concerning Israel (12:1). The two sections are
quite similar. Both are an expansion and
continuation of ideas in the visions of the first eight
chapters, the same ideas recurring again and again
in different dress.
Judah’s coming struggle with all nations
(12:1-6). The description of this struggle is
continued in 14:1-8. Some consider the language
to be a figurative representation of God’s struggle
with the nations through the whole Christian era.
Others apply it more literally to the time of the end.
Mourning in the house of David (12:7-13:9).
The thoughts here are evidently centered around
the house of David. Though the language is
difficult, yet it clearly depicts a tragedy of some
kind or other that takes place in the family of
David, an occasion for great sorrow, when some
leading member of the family would be killed
(13:7), his hands would be pierced (12:10; 13:6),
and a fountain for sin would be opened (13:1). It
was to happen in the day when “the house of David
will be like God” (12:8). Only one member of
David’s family was God: that one was Jesus. This
identifies the person here referred to as the
“Branch” of 3:8, who would “remove the sin of
this land in a single day” (3:9) and who would
“build the temple of the Lord” (6:12) and rule from
sea to sea. (See also under 6:9-15.) It is an
amazingly detailed forecast of Jesus’ death that is
not applicable in any way to any other known
person. Thus the death of the Branch in David’s
family would be the source of God’s power against
the nations (12:2-4), and its effectiveness would
be shown in the eventual removal of idols and
false prophets from the earth (13:2-5).
Judah’s struggle with the nations (14:1-2).
(See on 12: 1-6.)
God’s victory and universal reign (14:3-21).
This speaks of the grand consummation of the
prophetic dreams, the day of the Lord’s return, and
the inauguration of His everlasting kingdom. Some
biblical scholars think that verses 4-8 mean that
Jesus, when He returns, will literally make His
throne on the Mount of Olives, that the mountain
will literally be cleft, that waters literally will
flow eastward and westward from Jerusalem, and
that Jerusalem will literally be the center of
pilgrimages from nations outlined inverses 10-21.
Others take the language to be a figurative
representation of the new heavens and the new
earth, under the imagery of a benign, prosperous,
and all-powerful earthly kingdom, the way
Revelation 2 1 describes heaven under the imagery
of a magnificent earthly city.
Summary of Zechariah’s
Prophecies Concerning
Christ
• His atoning death for the removal of sin
(3:8-9; 13:1)
• As builder of the house of God (6:12)
• His universal reign as King and Priest
(6:13; 9:10)
• Triumphal Entry (9:9, quoted in Matthew
21:5; John 12:15)
• Betrayal for 30 pieces of silver (11:12,
quoted in Matthew 27:9-10)
• His deity (12:8)
• His hands pierced (12:10; 13:6, quoted in
John 19:37)
• A stricken Shepherd (13:7, quoted in
Matthew 26:31; Mark 14:27)
Here are plain statements that not only
forecast, in specific language, the great
doctrines of the coming Messiah’s atoning
death for human sin, His deity, and His
universal kingdom, but also mention detailed
incidents in His life, such as His entry into
Jerusalem riding on a colt and His betrayal for
30 pieces of silver.
Malachi
The Final Old Testament Message to a
Disobedient Nation
“See, I will send my messenger, who will
prepare the way before me. Then suddenly
the Lord you are seeking will come to his
temple; the messenger of the covenant,
whom you desire, will come, ” says the Lord
Almighty. But who can endure the day of his
coming? Who can stand when he appears?
For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a
launderer s soap.
— Malachi 3 : 1-2
Malachi ’s exact date is not known. It is generally
accepted that he lived nearly a century after Haggai
and Zechariah and that he worked with Ezra and
Nehemiah in their reforms. His date is placed at
approximately 450-400 B.c,
The Situation
A remnant had returned from captivity in 538 B.c.
Under the prophetic ministry of Haggai and
Zechariah they had rebuilt the temple (520-516
B.c,). Then, 60 years later (458 b.c.), Ezra came to
help reestablish the nation, and 14 years after that
(444 B.c.), Nehemiah came and rebuilt the wall.
Thus, in Malachi’s time the Jews had been
home from Babylon for about 100 years, cured by
the Exile of their idolatry, but still prone to neglect
the house of God. The priests had become lax and
degenerate, sacrifices were inferior, tithes were
neglected. The people had reverted to their old
practice of intermarrying with idolatrous neighbors
(see on Ezra 9).
And so the Jews, favored by God above all
nations, had settled down in a lethargic state of
mind to await the coming of the promised Messiah,
who, they thought, would restore the nation to its
former glory under King David. Malachi assured
them that the Messiah would come, but it would
mean judgment for them rather than glory.
Mai. 1 CONTEMPT FOR TEMPLE
SACRIFICES
Verses 2-3 are quoted in Romans 9:10-13 as
applying to God’s choice of Jacob instead of Esau
(Genesis 25:22-34). Malachi actually refers to the
two nations that sprang from Jacob and Esau, the
Israelites and the Edomites. Both had been
destroyed by the Babylonians. Israel had been
restored, but Edom was still a wasteland.
Their offering of diseased and blemished
animals, which they would not have dared to give
as a gift to their governor (v. 8), was an insult to
God. Against this, Malachi envisions the day when
the God who is thus insulted by His own nation
will be honored by all the other nations of the
world (v. 11).
Mai. 2 MARRIAGES WITH
GENTILE NEIGHBORS
Priests, who had been ordained by God to lead the
people in righteousness (vv. 5-7), were
responsible for this deplorable situation. They had
become so debased, mercenary, and corrupt that
the name “priest” had become a word of contempt
among the people.
Loose marriage morals (vv. 10-16). Jews
were divorcing their wives to marry non-Jewish
women. This was a double sin, with disastrous
effects on the proper rearing of children.
Skepticism was at the root of their religious
indifference and their low morals. Noticing that
wicked nations were more prosperous, the people
were asking, “What’s the use of serving God?”
(See under 3:13-18.)
Mai. 3:1-6 THE COMING DAY OF
THE LORD
Malachi’s reply to their skepticism is that the
corning Day of Judgment will answer their taunts
and will show whether it pays to serve God (v. 5;
see further under 3:13-18).
Tithing
There is much debate in the church today
whether tithing is a requirement for the New
Testament Christian. Some classify the tithe
as an Old Testament law that was
superceded by the Gospel and is therefore no
longer a requirement for the New Testament
church. But the New Testament makes it clear
that Jesus is a priest “in the order of
Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6-10;
6:20-7:28). God tells us very little about
Melchizedek except that he was a righteous
priest and king who blessed Abram in the
name of the most high God and received
tithes from Abram (Genesis 14:18-20). It is
commonly accepted by Christians that
Melchizedek is a type of Jesus. The New
Testament church would be well advised to
consider tithing, for God’s promised blessing
is great!
Mai. 3:7-12 TITHES
Another abrupt change of subject. Withholding
tithes is called “robbing God.” According to the
Mosaic Law, one-tenth of all income was God’s
property, to which the donor had no more right than
he had to another man’s property. Note God’s
promise of prosperity to faithful tithers and the
challenge to test the validity of His promise.
Mai.
3:13-18
NATIONAL
SKEPTICISM AGAIN
The Jews did not believe God’s promise about
tithes. They considered that money and effort
offered to God were wasted. Malachi’s answer is,
Wait and see — the end will show whether it was
indeed so (vv. 16-17). This beautiful passage
pictures the faithful few, in a time of general
apostasy, and God recording their names for
recognition in “that day.”
Mai. 4 THE COMING DAY OF
THE LORD
Four times Malachi sweeps forward to “the Day of
the Lord” (1:11; 3:1-6, 16-18; 4:1-6). He calls it
“The Day” (3:2, 17; 4:1, 3, 5). It seems to refer to
the whole Christian era, with special application
to the time of the end.
The Closing Words of the
Old Testament
The final exhortation: Remember the
Law of Moses, which I gave him! (v. 4).
The final prediction: Elijah will usher in
“the Day of the Lord” (v. 5). He did, 400
years later, in the person of John the
Baptist (Matthew 3:1-12; 11:14). This
passage may also be predictive of
Christ’s second coming in the day of final
judgment. Might this also foretell Elijah as
one of the two witnesses in Revelation
11 ?
The final promise: Love between
parents and children (v. 6; quoted in Luke
1:17), a symbolic reference to the
promise of God’s love for His people.
The final word: “Curse” (in both the
Hebrew and the English text), meaning
that the plight of mankind would be
hopeless should the Lord fail to come.
• Thus closes the Old Testament. Four
hundred years later, the New Testament
begins with the words, “A record of the
genealogy of Jesus Christ [the Messiah]”
(Matthew 1:1).
THE MESSTAH TN THE OLD
TESTAMENT
Foreshadowings and Predictions of
the Coming Messiah
“Messiah” is the Hebrew word for “Anointed
One” (the Greek word is Christ). Anointing was
common in the Ancient Near East; it involved the
applying of oil to a person (or on occasion, a
thing). There were three kinds of anointing in the
Old Testament: ordinary, medical, and sacred.
• Ordinary anointing with scented oils was
common (Ruth 3:3; Psalm 104:15; Proverbs
27:9); it was discontinued during a time of
mourning (2 Samuel 14:2; Daniel 10:3;
Matthew 6:17). Guests were anointed as a
mark of respect (Psalm 23:5; Luke 7:46). The
dead were prepared for burial by anointing
(Mark 14:8; 16:1).
• Medical anointing — not necessarily with oil
— was customary for the sick and wounded
(Isaiah 1:6; Luke 10:34). Jesus’ disciples
anointed with oil (Mark 6:13; James 5:14).
• The purpose of sacred anointing was to
dedicate the thing or person to God. Thus the
stone Jacob used for a pillow at Bethel
(Genesis 28:18) and the tabernacle and its
furniture (Exodus 30:22-29) were anointed.
More important here is the anointing of
prophets (1 Kings 19:16; 1 Chronicles 16:22),
priests (Exodus 28:41; 29:7; Leviticus 8:12, 30),
and kings (1 Samuel 9:16; 10:1; 16:1, 12-13; 2
Samuel 2:7; 1 Kings 1:34; 19:16). The oil
symbolized the Holy Spirit, empowering them for a
particular work in the service of God. Thus “the
Lord’s anointed” was the common term for a king
(1 Samuel 12:3; Lamentations 4:20).
The Old Testament points toward a coming
Redeemer who is called Anointed One (Messiah)
twice (Psalm 2:2; Daniel 9:25-26). The
expectation of a coming Messiah became
widespread by the time of Jesus.
The New Testament shows that Jesus is the
expected Messiah. He was anointed with the Holy
Spirit at His baptism (John 1:32-33), showing that
He was indeed the Messiah (Luke 4:18, 21; Acts
9:22; 17:2-3; 18:5, 28). That is why Jesus is given
the title “Christ,” which is the Greek word for
Anointed One. Jesus the Messiah — Jesus Christ —
is anointed to be prophet, priest, and king all at
once (Moses, Melchizedek, and David; see below,
Genesis 14:18-20; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; 2
Samuel 7:16).
The following are some of the most remarkable
foreshadowings and predictions of Jesus found
throughout the Old Testament.
The Pentateuch (Genesis-
Deuteronomy)
Genesis 3:15. The Seed of the Woman
“I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your offspring and
hers; he will crush your head, and you will
strike his heel. ”
This seems to say that God is determined, in
spite of Adam and Eve’s sin, to bring His creation
of mankind to a successful end. As the Fall was set
in motion through Eve, so will redemption come
through woman. It will be the “seed of the
woman,” that is, born of woman without the agency
of man. It seems like a primeval hint of the virgin
birth of Christ, for there has been only one
descendant of Eve who was born of woman
without being begotten by man.
Genesis 4:3-5. Abel’s Offering
In the course of time Cain brought some oj
the fruits of the soil as an offering to the
Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from
some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord
looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
but on Cain and his offering he did not look
with favor.
This would seem to indicate the institution of
blood sacrifice, right at the start, as the condition
for humanity’s acceptance by God. It is a hint that
stands at the beginning of a long line of pictures
and predictions of Christ’s atoning death for human
sin.
Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18. The Call of
Abraham
“ Through your offspring all nations on
earth will be blessed. ”
Here is a clear, definite statement to Abraham,
repeated three times, that in him God was founding
a nation for the express purpose of blessing all
nations through it. This was the nation through
whom the Messiah would come.
Genesis 14:18-20. Melchizedek
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out
bread and wine. He was priest of God Most
High, and he blessed Abram, saying,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be
God Most High, who delivered your enemies
into your hand. ” Then Abram gave him a
tenth of everything. ”
In Psalm 110:4 it is said of the coming
Messiah, “You are a priest forever, in the order of
Melchizedek.” In Hebrews 7, Melchizedek, as a
king-priest, is called a “type” (a foreshadowing) of
Jesus.
Thus Melchizedek is a foreshadowing of the
coming Person who was the purpose behind the
formation of Abraham’s nation — the Messiah, the
Savior of mankind. Little is known about
Melchizedek other than that he was a king-priest
who gave blessings and received tithes.
Melchizedek lived in Salem (Jerusalem), the same
city where Jesus was crucified. And the bread and
wine are a marvelous primeval picture of the
Lord’s Supper and all that it means!
Genesis 22:1-19. Abraham Offers Isaac
We see a father offering his son, who was, for
three days, as good as dead in his father’s mind
(22:4); a substitutionary sacrifice (22:13); on
Mount Moriah (22:2), the same place where
Abraham had paid tithes to Melchizedek (14:18;
Salem is on Mount Moriah), the same place where
Jesus was crucified.
As Melchizedek was a foreshadowing of the
Person Abraham’s nation would bring into the
world, so this sacrifice seems to be a
foreshadowing of the event in that Person’s life by
which He would do His work. What an apt picture
of the death and resurrection of Christ!
Genesis 26:4; 28:14. The Promise Repeated
“All peoples on earth will be blessed
through you and your offspring. ”
The same promise that was made three times to
Abraham is here repeated to Isaac and then to
Jacob.
Genesis 49:10-11. “He to Whom the Scepter
Belongs” (KJV, Shiloh)
“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor
the ruler s staff from between his feet, until
he comes to whom it belongs and the
obedience of the nations is his. . . . He will
wash his garments in wine, his robes in the
blood of grapes. ”
Here is the first clear, definite prediction that
one Person would arise in Abraham’s nation to
rule all nations (Heb. Shiloh, He whose right it is).
He must be the One of whom Melchizedek was a
shadow. He would appear in the tribe of Judah.
His garments washed in the blood of grapes may
be an image of His crucifixion.
Exodus 12. Institution of the Passover
Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt through the death
of Egypt’s firstborn. The Lord spared the firstborn
in the houses of the Israelites that were marked
with the blood of a lamb. This feast was to be kept
annually throughout all generations. It became
Israel’s principal feast, observed in memory of
their deliverance.
The Passover was celebrated for 1,400 years,
the central feast of the Hebrew nation. It was
unmistakably designed by God to foreshadow the
basic event of human redemption, the death of
Christ, the Lamb of God. He died on the cross at a
Passover feast, bringing eternal deliverance from
sin for those marked with His blood, even as the
first Passover brought deliverance from Egypt for
Israel. It shows how much God’s mind was on the
coming of Christ long before He came.
Leviticus 16. The Day of Atonement
The Day of Atonement took place once a year. It
involved two goats. One was killed as a sin-
offering. The high priest laid hands on the head of
the other, called the scapegoat, confessing the
people’s sin. Then the scapegoat was led away and
let go in the wilderness.
This, and the whole system of Levitical
sacrifices that were so much part of Hebrew life,
are clear, historical foreshadowings of the atoning
death of the coming Messiah.
Numbers 21:6-9. The Bronze Snake
Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among
them; they bit the people and many
Israelites died. The people came to Moses
and said, “We sinned when we spoke against
the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord
will take the snakes away from us. ” So
Moses prayed for the people.
The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake
and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten
can look at it and live. ” So Moses made a
bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then
when anyone was bitten by a snake and
looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
This happened in the wilderness, after the
Exodus, on the way to the Promised Land. Jesus
understood this to be a picture of Himself being
lifted up on the cross (John 3:14). Mankind, bitten
by sin in the Garden of Eden, may look to Him and
live.
Numbers 24:17, 19. The Star
“A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter
will rise out of Israel. ... A ruler will come
out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the
Here is another definite prediction of a person,
a brilliant ruler: evidently meaning the same
person as “He to whom the scepter belongs” (KJY
Shiloh) of Genesis 49:10, who is to rule the
nations.
Deuteronomy 18:15-19. A Prophet Like Moses
The Lord your God will raise up for you a
prophet like me from among your own
brothers. You must listen to him. For this is
what you asked of the Lord your God at
Horeb on the day of the assembly when you
said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord
our God nor see this great fire anymore, or
we will die. ”
The Lord said to me: “What they say is
good. I will raise up for them a prophet like
you from among their brothers; I will put my
words in his mouth, and he will tell them
everything I command him. If anyone does
not listen to my words that the prophet
speaks in my name, I myself will call him to
account. ”
God would raise up a prophet like Moses,
through whom God would speak to mankind.
Thus, in the first five books of the Old
Testament there is a specific prediction, repeated
five times, that the Hebrew nation was established
for the one express purpose of blessing all nations.
These books also contain specific predictions
that there would be one Person through whom the
nation would fulfill its mission. And there are
various hints about the nature of this Person’s
work, especially His sacrificial death. Thus some
leading characteristics of Christ’s life were drawn,
in fairly distinct lines, some 1,400 years before
Christ came.
The Other Historical Books
(Joshua-Esther)
Joshua
This book seems to have no direct prediction of the
Messiah, though Joshua himself is thought, in a
sense, to have been a type (foreshadowing) of
Jesus. The names are the same: “Jesus” is the
Greek form of the Hebrew “Joshua.” As Joshua led
Israel into the Promised Land, so Jesus will lead
His people into heaven.
Ruth
And they named him Obed. He was the father
of Jesse, the father of David (4:17).
Ruth was the great-grandmother of David.
Boaz was of Bethlehem and was a kinsman-
redeemer who acquired Ruth as his wife. Boaz is a
type (foreshadowing) of Christ, who was born
1,100 years later in Bethlehem. Christ was also a
kinsman-redeemer, as He paid a price, with His
blood, to acquire the church (often referred to as
the bride of Christ).
1 Samuel 16. David
David is anointed king over Israel. From here on,
David is the central figure of Old Testament
history. The most specific and most abundant of all
messianic prophecies cluster around his name.
Abraham was the founder of the messianic nation,
and David the founder of the messianic family
within the nation.
2 Samuel 7:16. David Is Promised an Eternal
Throne
“Your throne will be established forever. ”
Here begins a long line of promises that
David’s family will reign forever over God’s
people.
This promise is repeated over and over
throughout the rest of the Old Testament, with an
ever-increasing mass of detail and specific
explanations: the promise will find its ultimate
fulfillment in one great King, who will Himself
live forever and establish a kingdom of endless
duration.
This eternal King evidently is the same person
previously spoken of as a priest after the order of
Melchizedek, “He to whom the scepter belongs”
(KJV Shiloh), the Star, and the Prophet like
Moses.
1 Kings 9:5. The Promise Repeated to Solomon
“I will establish your royal throne over
Israel forever. ”
The promise is repeated over and over to
David and Solomon.
However, the books of Kings and Chronicles
relate the story of the fall of David’s kingdom and
the exile of the Hebrew nation, apparently bringing
to naught God’s promise to David’s family of an
eternal throne.
But in the period covered by these books, many
prophets cried out that the promise would yet be
fulfilled.
The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther
relate the story of the return of the fallen and
scattered Hebrew nation, without direct messianic
predictions. However, the reestablishment of the
nation in its own land was a necessary antecedent
to the fulfillment of promises about David’s throne.
Poetic Books (Job-Song of
Songs)
Job 19:25-27. “My Redeemer Lives”
The book of Job is a discussion of the problem of
suffering, without much direct bearing, as far as we
can see, on the messianic mission of the Hebrew
nation — except in Job’s exultant outburst of faith,
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the
end he will stand upon the earth.”
Psalms
The book of Psalms, written mostly by David
himself, is full of predictions and foreshadowings
of the eternal King who would come out of
David’s family. Some of them, in a limited and
secondary sense, may refer to David himself. But
on the whole they are inapplicable to any person in
history other than Christ — written 1000 years
before Christ came.
Psalm 2. The Lord’s Anointed
The kings of the earth take their stand and
the rulers gather together against the Lord
and against his Anointed One (v. 2). .. . “1
have installed my King on Zion, my holy
hill” (v. 6). .. . ‘‘You are my Son” (v. 7). .. .
“I will make the nations your inheritance”
(v. 8). . . . Kiss the Son. . . . Blessed are all
who take refuge in him (v. 12).
Evidently meaning that the eternal King is to
arise in David’s family. A very positive statement
as to His deity, His universal reign, and the
blessedness of those who trust Him.
Psalm 16:10. His Resurrection
You will not abandon me to the grave, nor
will you let your Holy One see decay.
This is quoted in Acts 2:27, 31 as referring to
the resurrection of Christ. There had been many
hints of the coining Messiah’s death. Here is a
clear-cut prediction of His victory over death and
of life forevermore.
Psalm 22. A Fore-Picture of the Crucifixion
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? ” ( v. : 1).
Even His dying words are foretold (Matthew
27:46).
“All who see me mock me; they hurl insults,
shaking their heads: ‘He trusts in the Lord;
let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him ’ ” (vv. 7-8).
Sneers of His enemies, in their exact words
(Matthew 27:43).
“Thev have pierced my hands and my feet"
(v. 16).
This indicates crucifixion as the manner of His
death (John 20:20, 25).
“They divide my garments among them and
cast lots for my clothing” (v. 18).
Even this detail is forecast (Matthew 27:35).
What can all this refer to except the crucifixion
of Jesus? Yet it was written 1000 years before it
happened.
Psalm 41:9. To Be Betrayed by a Friend
My close friend, whom I trusted, he who
shared my bread, has lifted up his heel
against me.
Apparently David is referring to his own
friend, Ahithophel (2 Samuel 15:12). But Jesus
quoted it as a foreshadowing of His betrayal by
Judas (John 13:18-27; Luke 22:47-48).
Psalm 45. The Reign of God’s Anointed
God, your God, has set you above your
companions by anointing you with the oil oj
joy (v. 7).
Your throne, O God, will last for ever and
ever (v. 6).
In your majesty ride forth victoriously (v. 4).
I will perpetuate your memory through all
generations; therefore the nations will
praise you for ever and ever (v. 17).
Here is depicted the glorious reign of a king,
bearing the name of God, seated on an eternal
throne. It can refer to no other than the eternal King
who would come from David’s family. It is a
wedding song of Christ and His bride, the church.
Psalm 69:21. Gall and Vinegar
They put gall in my food and gave me
vinegar for my thirst.
Another incident in the corning Messiah’s
sufferings (Matthew 27:34, 48).
Psalm 72. His Glorious Reign
In his days the righteous will flourish (v. 7).
He will rule from sea to sea and from the
River to the ends of the earth (v. 8).
All Kings will bow down to him and all
nations will serve him (v. 11).
Praise be to his glorious name forever; may
the whole earth be filled with his glorv (v.
19).
This psalm seems, in part, to have been a
description of the reign of Solomon. But some of
its statements, and its general tenor, surely refer to
One who will be greater than Solomon.
Psalm 78:2. To Speak in Parables
1 will open my mouth in parables.
Another detail of the Messiah’s life: His
method of teaching in parables. This verse is
quoted in Matthew 1 3 : 34-3 5 .
Psalm 89. The Endlessness of David’s Throne
“I have made a covenant with my chosen
one, I have sworn to David” (v. 3).
“I will establish your line forever and make
your throne firm through all generations ” (v.
4f
“I will also appoint him my firstborn, the
most exalted of the kings of the earth” (v.
27) .
“My covenant with him will never fail” (v.
28) .
“ I have sworn by my holiness — and I will
not lie to David. . . . his throne . . . will be
established forever ” (vv. 35 37).
God’s oath, repeated over and over, that
David’s throne will be forever, under God’s
firstborn.
Psalm 110. Messiah to Be King and Priest
The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right
hand until I make your enemies a footstool
for your feet” (v. 1).
“You are a priest forever, in the order oj
Melchizedek” (v. 4).
The eternal dominion and eternal priesthood of
the coming King. Jesus quoted this as referring to
Himself in Matthew 2:42-44.
Psalm 118:22. Messiah to Be Rejected by
Rulers
The stone the builders rejected has become
the capstone.
Jesus quoted this as referring to Himself in
Matthew 2 1 : 42-44.
The Prophets (Isaiah-Malachi)
i i
Isaiah 2:2-4. A Magnificent Vision of the
Messianic Age
In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s
temple will be established as chief among
the mountains; . . . all nations will stream to
it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come,
let us go up to . . . the house of the God oj
Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we
may walk in his paths. ” The law will go out
from Zion, the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem. He will judge between the
nations and will settle disputes for many
peoples. They will beat their swords into
plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks. Nation will not take up sword against
nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Isaiah is the preeminent book of messianic
prophecy in the Old Testament. His language is
unsurpassed in all literature as he goes into ecstasy
over the glories of the reign of the coming
Messiah.
Isaiah 4:2, 5-6. The Branch of the Lord
In that day the Branch of the Lord will be
beautiful and glorious. . . . Then the Lord
will create over all of Mount Zion and over
those who assemble there a cloud of smoke
by day and a glow of flaming fire by night;
over all the glory will be a canopy. It will be
a shelter and shade from the heat of the day,
and a refuge and hiding place from the
storm and rain.
The Messiah is here represented as a branch
that grows up out of the stump of the family tree of
David, becoming a guide and refuge for His
people. (See comments on Isaiah 11:1-10.)
Isaiah 7:13-14. Immanuel
“Hear now, you house of David! . . . The
virgin will be with child and will give birth
to a son, and will call him Immanuel. ’’
This seems to say that someone who will be
called Immanuel will be born in David’s family, of
a virgin. This evidently refers to the same person
as the branch of 4:2 and 11:1, and the wonderful
child of 9:6. The deity of the child is implied in the
name Immanuel, which means “God with us.” Thus
the virgin birth and the deity of the Messiah are
here foretold. It is quoted in Matthew 1:23 as
referring to Jesus.
Isaiah 9:1-2, 6-7. The Wonderful Child
In . . . Galilee . . . the people walking in
darkness have seen a great light;. . . For to
us a child is born, to us a son is given: and
the government will be on his shoulders. And
he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince oj
Peace. Of the increase of his government
and peace there will be no end. He will reign
on David’s throne and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it with justice
and righteousness from that time on and
forever.
This child, unmistakably, is the eternal King
promised to David’s family (2 Samuel 7:16). It is
the same person spoken of centuries earlier as “He
to whom the scepter belongs” (KJV| Shiloh), the
Star, and the Prophet like Moses. His deity is here
emphasized. His ministry will be in Galilee.
Altogether a very accurate forecast of Jesus.
Isaiah 11:1-10. The Reign of the Branch
A shoot will come up from the stump oj
Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear
fruit (v. 1).
That is, a shoot out of the stump of David’s
family tree — the Messiah.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him — the
Spirit of wisdom and of understanding (v. 2).
The Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for
the peoples; the nations will rally to him (v.
10 ).
He will strike the earth with the rod of his
mouth (v. 4).
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard
will lie down with the goat, the calf and the
lion and the yearling together; and a little
child will lead them. The cow will feed with
the bear ; their young will lie down together;
and the lion will eat straw like the ox (vv. 6 -
7)-
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my
holy mountain, for the earth will be full oj
the knowledge of the Lord as the waters
cover the sea (v. 9).
A magnificent description of universal peace in
the world-to-be under the reign of the coining
Messiah.
Isaiah 25:6-9; 26:1, 19. The Resurrection of the
Dead
On this mountain the Lord . . . will swallow
up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will
wipe away the tears from all faces (25:6, 8).
In that day . . . your dead will live; their
bodies will rise. . . . The earth will give birth
to her dead (26:1, 19).
A forecast of both the resurrection of Jesus on
Mount Zion and a general resurrection.
Isaiah 35:5-6. Messiah’s Miracles
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then
will the lame leap like a deei; and the mute
tongue shout for joy.
An exact description of Jesus’ ministry of
miracles.
Isaiah 35:8-10. Messiah’s Highway
A highway will be there . . . called the way oj
holiness.
“The ransomed of the Lord will return. They
will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy
will crown their heads. Gladness and joy
will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing
will flee away. ”
Holiness, happiness, singing, joy — there will
be no more sorrow or tears, ever, for the people of
the coming Messiah.
Isaiah 40:5, 10-11. Messiah’s Tenderness
“The glory of the Lord will be revealed, and
all mankind together will see it. ”... See,
the Sovereign Lord comes with power ; and
his arm rules for him. . . . He tends his flock
like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his
arms and carries them close to his heart; he
gently leads those that have young.
Another preview of the glory of Jesus, His
power, and His gentleness toward the weak of His
flock.
Isaiah 42:1-11, Gentiles
“Here is my servant” (v. 1). . . . “I will keep
you and will make you to be a covenant for
the people and a light for the Gentiles” (v.
6). . . . “In his law the islands will put their
hope” (v. 4). .. . Sing to the Lord a new
song, his praise from the ends of the earth (v.
10 ).
Israel’s coining King will rule over Gentiles
also, and they will cover the whole earth with
songs of praise and joy.
Isaiah 53. The Messiah’s Sufferings
Who has believed our message and to whom
has the arm of the Lord been revealed? . . .
He was despised and rejected by men, a man
of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. . . .
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried
our sorrows. . . . But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us
peace was upon him, and by his wounds we
are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone
astray, each of us has turned to his own
way; and the Lord has laid on him the
iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and
afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he
was led like a lamb to the slaughter. ... Yet
it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause
him to suffer. ... By his knowledge my
righteous servant will justify many, and he
will bear their iniquities . . . because he
poured out his life unto death.
The most conspicuous feature in the prophecies
about the coming King is that He would suffer. It
was hinted at in Abel’s sacrifice and in Abraham’s
offering of Isaac. It was vividly foreshadowed in
the institution of the Passover feast and in the
annual Day of Atonement. Some of the details of
His suffering are described in Psalm 22. And here
in Isaiah 53, detail upon detail is added, making
the picture more complete.
In chapters 54, 55, 60, and 61, the suffering
King fills the earth with songs of joy.
Isaiah 60. To Be Light of the World
“See, darkness covers the earth ” (v. 2).
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and
the glory of the Lord rises upon you ’’ (v. 1).
“The Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your days of sorrow will end ” (v. 20).
In the New Testament, Jesus is repeatedly
called the Light of the World.
Isaiah 62:2; 65: 15. A New Name
You will be called by a new name (62:2).
“But to his servants he will give another
name ” (65:15).
In Old Testament times, God’s people were
called Israelites. Since the days of Christ, they
have been called Christians.
Jeremiah 23:5-6. The Branch
“The days are coming, ” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up to David a righteous
Branch, a King. . . . This is the name by
which he will be called: The Lord Our
Righteousness. ”
Isaiah 4 and 1 1 speak of the corning King as a
branch out of the family of David. Here Jeremiah
repeats that name and asserts His deity.
Ezekiel 37:24-25. The Prince of the House of
David
“My servant David will be king over them,
and they will all have one shepherd. They
will follow my laws and be careful to keep
my decrees. They will live in the land I gave
to my servant Jacob, the land where your
fathers lived. They and their children and
their children’s children will live there
forever, and David my servant will be their
prince forever. ”
A glorious vision of the ultimate fulfillment of
God’s promise to David. Not only will the
Messiah, David’s descendant, be a good shepherd
to His people, but also the people will live by
God’s laws in a kingdom of peace.
Ezekiel 47:1-12. The Life-giving Stream
I saw water coming out from under the
threshold of the temple toward the east. . . .
As the man went eastward with a measuring
line in his hand, he measured off a thousand
cubits and then led me through water that
was ankle-deep. He measured off another
thousand cubits and led me through water
that was knee-deep. He measured off
another thousand and led me through water
that was up to the waist. He measured off
another thousand, but now it was a river
that I could not cross, because the water had
risen and was deep enough to swim in — a
river that no one could cross. . . . He said to
me, “ This water flows toward . . . the Sea.
When it empties into the Sea, the water there
becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures
will live wherever the river flows. . . . Fruit
trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of
the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor
will their fruit fail. . . . Their fruit will serve
for food and their leaves for healing. ”
In describing the reign of the Prince, Ezekiel
presents a transcendently beautiful picture of the
life-giving impact of God’s presence under the
image of a stream flowing from the temple out to
the whole world.
Daniel 2. The Four Kingdoms
“In the time of those kings, the God of
heaven will set up a kingdom that will never
be destroyed, nor will it be left to another
people. It will crush all those kingdoms and
bring them to an end, but it will itself endure
forever” (v. 44).
In the nearly 600 years from Daniel to Christ
there were four world empires: Babylon, Persia,
Greece, and Rome. They are exactly described in
the imagery of this second chapter of Daniel. In
Daniel 7 the same four empires are described more
fully. It was in the days of the Roman Empire that
Christ appeared.
Hosea 1:10. The Gentiles Will Be Included
“In the place where it was said to them, ‘You
are not my people, ’ they will be called ‘sons
of the living God. ’
Here Hosea repeats what has already been said
time and again, that the Messiah’s kingdom will
include all nations.
Hosea 11:1. Out of Egypt
“Out of Egypt I called my son. ”
A way of saying that part of the Messiah’s
childhood would be spent in Egypt (Matthew
2:15).
Joel 2:28, 32; 3:13-14. The Gospel Era
“I will pour out my Spirit on all people. . . .
And everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved. . . . Swing the sickle, for
the harvest is ripe. ”... Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision !
The Messiah will institute an era of world
evangelization under the leadership of the Holy
Spirit (Acts 2:16-21).
Amos 9:11-14. David’s Fallen Throne to Rise
“I will bring back my exiled people Israel;
they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in
them ” (v. 14).
“In that day I will restore David’s fallen
tent ... so that they may possess the
remnant of Edom and all the nations that
bear my name ” (vv. 11-12).
Israel will be restored, as will the dynasty of
David, in the person of the Messiah (Christ). But
the Messiah’s rule will not be limited to Israel
alone — it will include the Gentiles as well (see
Acts 15:12-21).
Jonah 1:17. A Sign to Nineveh
Jonah was inside the fish three days and three
nights.
Jesus took this to be a foreshadowing of His
own death and resurrection — a sign to the world
(Matthew 12:40).
Micah 5:2-5. Bethlehem to Be Messiah’s
Birthplace
“You, Bethlehem, . . . out of you will come
for me one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are . . .from ancient times. . . .
For then his greatness will reach to the ends
of the earth. And he will be their peace. ”
Micah evidently refers to the King so often
mentioned before.
Zephaniah 3:9. A New Language
“Then will I purify the lips of the peoples,
that all of them may call on the name of the
Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder. ”
That is, the people will know and serve God,
purified by the Gospel of Christ.
Haggai 2:6-7. The Desire of All Nations
“A little while . . . and the desired of all
nations will come, and . . . fill this house
with glory. ”
That will be the crowning day for David’s Son,
here typified inZerubbabel (2:23).
Zechariah
“I am going to bring my servant, the
Branch ” (3:8).
"Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your
king comes to you, . . . gentle and riding on
a donkey" (9:9).
"On that dav . . . the house of David will be
like God" (12:8).
"I will remove the sin of this land in a single
day” (3:9).
So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. ... So
I .. . threw them into the house of the Lord
to the potter (11: 12 13).
“ They will look on me, the one they have
pierced ” (12:10).
“ On that day a fountain will be opened . . .
to cleanse them from sin and impurity”
(13:1).
It is doubtful that Zechariah himself understood
the exact meaning of all these prophecies, some of
which refer to very specific events in the life of
Jesus (see 1 Peter 1:10-12). But looking back, we
can see how these prophecies have been fulfilled
in Jesus.
Malachi 3:1; 4:5. A Forecast of John the Baptist
“See, I will send my messenger . . . the
prophet Elijah before that great and
dreadful day of the Lord comes . . . who will
prepare the way before me. ”
In Matthew 11:7-14, Jesus, speaking of John
the Baptist, quotes this passage from Malachi and
expressly states that it refers to John the Baptist.
The 400 Years Between
the Testaments
THE 400 YEARS BETWEEN THE
TESTAMENTS
The world of the New Testament is very different
from that of the Old Testament. The changes that
took place over four centuries affected every area
of life. Many of these changes are interrelated.
Political and Cultural Changes
• The Romans, instead of the Persians, now
control Palestine.
• Greek thought and culture (Hellenism), rather
than the gods of the Canaanites such as Baal
and Molech, now threaten to derail God’s
people.
Geographical Changes
• Palestine is divided into Judea, Galilee,
Samaria; on the east side of the Jordan River
are Perea and the Decapolis. Furthermore,
there are now (sometimes sizable) Jewish
communities in most major cities of the
Roman Empire, each with its own synagogue.
This is referred to as the Diaspora, or
dispersion.
Religious Changes
• Religious parties: The parties of the
Pharisees and Sadducees (as well as the
political parties of the Zealots and
Herodians) did not exist in the Old
Testament.
• Religious functionaries: Teachers of the
Law (“scribes”) and rabbis (teachers) play a
prominent role. The chief priests as a group
with its own identity is not found in the Old
Testament.
• Religious institutions: The temple and the
temple area have been transformed from the
modest structure built by the post-exilic Jews
into a magnificent complex. In addition, each
town now has a synagogue , a place for
worship and study of the Word of God.
Language and Writings
• The common language in Palestine is no
longer Hebrew but Aramaic. The language of
commerce and communications throughout the
Roman Empire is Greek.
• These changes in language necessitated
translations of the Hebrew Bible (our Old
Testament): the Septuagint, a Greek
translation, and the Targums, Aramaic
paraphrases.
We will look at each of these in more detail.
A. Four Centuries of Political
Change
1. The Persian Period, 430-332 b.c.
The story of the Old Testament ends around 430
B.c. with the prophet Malachi. The Babylonians,
who had destroyed Jerusalem in 586 b.c., had been
conquered by the Medes and Persians. The Persian
king Cyrus allowed the Jews to go back to
Jerusalem in 536 B.c. Under Ezra and Nehemiah,
the temple and the city walls were rebuilt. Thus, at
the close of the Old Testament, Judah was a
Persian province.
Not much is known of Jewish history during
this period, except that Persian rule was, for the
most part, mild and tolerant. (For Persian kings of
this period, see sidebar The Persian Empire in the
chapter on The Babylonian Exile and the Return
from Exile: Ezra-Esther.)
2. The Greek Period, 331-167 b.c.
Up to this time, the great powers of the world had
been in Asia and Africa. But looming ominously on
the western horizon was the rising power of
Greece.
The beginnings of Greek history are veiled in
myth, ft is thought to have begun about the 12th
century B.C., the time of the biblical book of
Judges. The Trojan War, immortalized in Homer’s
Iliad and Odyssey, took place around 1000 B.c. —
the age of David and Solomon.
The beginning of authentic Greek history has
usually been reckoned from the first Olympiad in
776 B.c. (which is within a few years of the
founding of the city of Rome, which according to
tradition took place in 753 B.c.). Greek culture and
art were spectacularly original and creative
(unlike later Roman art, which was much more
severe and imitative). Greek culture reached its
zenith in the city of Athens in the 5th century B.c.,
the Golden Age of Greece. This was the era of the
great statesmen, philosophers, and dramatists (see
Athens in the chapter Acts).
This Golden Age of Greece was approximately
the same period during which the temple and walls
of Jerusalem were rebuilt under Zerubbabel, Ezra,
and Nehemiah after the Babylonian exile.
Alexander the Great was the son of King Philip
of Macedonia, north of Greece. In 336 b.c., at the
age of 20, he assumed command of the Greek army
and swept eastward over the lands that had been
under the rule of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and
Persia. By 33 1 B.c. the whole world lay at his feet.
When Alexander invaded Palestine in 332 b.c.,
he showed great consideration toward the Jews,
spared Jerusalem, and offered the Jews
inducements to settle in Alexandria, Egypt. He
established Greek cities all over his conquered
domains, with the intent of spreading Greek culture
and the Greek language throughout the world. After
a brief reign, he died in 323 B.c. at the age of 33.
His empire did not last, but his dream did: Greek
language and culture (Hellenism) would dominate
the world for many centuries (see The Diaspora, or
Dispersion in the chapter The 400 Years Between
the Testaments).
Under Egyptian Rule (The Ptolemies)
After Alexander’s death, his empire was divided
among four of his generals. Palestine lay between
the two eastern sections of the empire, Syria and
Egypt. Syria went to Seleucus (who was the first of
the Seleucid dynasty), Egypt to Ptolemy (the first
of the Ptolemies). Palestine went first to Syria, but
shortly thereafter passed to Egypt (301 B.c.) and
remained under Egyptian control until 198 B.c,
Under the Ptolemies the condition of the Jews
was mainly peaceful. During this period,
Alexandria in Egypt became an influential center
of Judaism.
Under Syrian Rule (The Seleucids)
King Antiochus the Great of Syria recaptured
Palestine in 198 B.c,, which thus passed back to the
kings of Syria, the Seleucids. Initially the
Seleucids were tolerant toward the Jews, but that
soon changed.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 B.c.) was
frustrated by the Jews’ refusal to give up their
religion and identity. He turned violently bitter
against them and made a furious and determined
effort to exterminate them and their religion. He
devastated Jerusalem (168 b.c.) and desecrated the
temple by offering a pig (a ceremonially unclean
animal according to the Law of Moses) on its altar.
He then put an altar to Zeus — the main Greek god,
called Jupiter by the Romans — in the temple,
prohibited temple worship, forbade circumcision
on pain of death, sold thousands of Jewish families
into slavery, destroyed all copies of Scripture that
could be found, slaughtered everyone discovered
in possession of such copies, and resorted to every
conceivable torture to force Jews to renounce their
religion. This led to one of the most heroic feats in
history — the Maccabean revolt.
3. A Century of Independence (The Maccabean
Period, 167-63 b.c.)
This period is called the Maccabean, Hasmonean,
or Asmonean period. Mattathias, a priest of intense
patriotism and unbounded courage, was infuriated
by the attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes to destroy
the Jews and their religion. He gathered a group of
loyal Jews and raised the standard of revolt. He
had five heroic and warlike sons: Judas, Jonathan,
Simon, John, and Eleazar.
Solomon’s Pools near Bethlehem. This is one of three pools
built at different levels. An aqueduct carried the water from the
pools to Jerusalem, 45 miles away. It is a remarkable feat of
engineering, since there is a 300-foot drop between the pools
and Jerusalem. These probably date from the Hasmonean
(Maccabean) period (2nd cent. B.C.), although tradition says
they were built by Solomon.
Mattathias died in 166 B.c, His mantle fell
upon his son Judas, who was a warrior of amazing
military genius. He won battle after battle against
unbelievable and impossible odds. He captured
Jerusalem in 165 B.c. and purified and rededicated
the temple. This was the origin of the Feast of
Hanukkah, which means Feast of Dedication (also
called the Feast of Lights). Judas united the
priestly and civil authority in himself and thus
established the line of Hasmonean priest-rulers
who for the next 100 years governed an
independent Judea. They were Mattathias (167 —
166 b.c.); Judas, his son (166-161); Jonathan,
Judas’s brother (161-144); Simon, Jonathan’s
brother (144-135); John Hyrcanus (135-106), son
of Jonathan; and Aristobulus and his sons ( 106—
63), who were unworthy of the Maccabean name.
4. The Roman Period (63 b.c.-a.d. 636)
Two rivals for the office of high priest both
appealed to Rome for help. The Roman general
Pompey came in 63 B.c. and decided to resolve the
dispute by making Palestine part of the Roman
Empire. Antipater, an Idumean (Edomite,
descendant of Esau), was appointed ruler of Judea.
He was succeeded by his son, Herod the Great,
who was king of Judea 37-4 b.c, Herod was a
shrewd politician who managed to get himself in
the good graces of the Jews. One of the means was
rebuilding and expanding the temple in
spectacularly beautiful fashion. But he was a
brutal, cruel man. He had his first wife, Mariamne,
killed, and later also three of his sons. This is the
Herod who ruled Judah when Jesus was born, and
it was he who had the children of Bethlehem killed
(see the article on The Children of Bethlehem
Killed by Herod in the chapter Matthew; for the
Herodian family, see maps: The House of Herod T
Burial place of the Maccabeans at Modin, the place where the
Jewish revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes began that led to
the last independent Jewish state (166-63 B.C.) until the
establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
B. Geographical Changes
1. Palestine
At the close of the Old Testament, Palestine was a
Persian province. In the time of Christ, the land of
Palestine was divided into three regions or
provinces: Galilee in the north, Samaria in the
center, and Judea in the south. East of the Jordan
River were Perea and the Decapolis.
History played a major role in how the people
in these regions viewed each other.
Galilee is an area of about 50 by 30 miles. It
was a fertile area, crossed by major trade routes.
When the kingdom of David and Solomon was
divided, the northern kingdom that seceded
consisted more or less of what in the New
Testament would be called Galilee and Samaria.
When the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians in
722 B.c., the population was deported to Assyria,
and in its place pagan immigrants were brought in
to settle the area. This is why the area is referred
to as “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Isaiah 9:1;
Matthew 4:15).
Herod the Great was an almost compulsive builder. In addition
to Caesarea (see map: Herod’s Caesarea , and
ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Caesarea in Acts) and the temple
in Jerusalem, he built a number of palace-fortresses, among
them Masada (see photos of Masada), Machaerus, where
John the Baptist was beheaded, and the Herodion or
Herodium.
The Herodion was built within view of Jerusalem, into the top
of a hill. The excavated soil was added to the outside of the hill
to give it its volcano-like appearance (top). In the plain below,
Herod built another large palace, a large pool (below), and
residences for his staff.
From the air, the plan of the palace can clearly be seen, with
its four towers and double walls (top). Inside (above) Herod
must have felt safe, since there was only one entrance with a
staircase of 200 white marble steps.
The non-Jewish element may have had a
negative impact on Jewish worship and religious
practices among the Galileans, who were readily
identifiable by their accent and dialect (Matthew
26:73). The people from Judea looked down on
Galileans, as Nathanael’s question shows:
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”
(John 1:46), as does the sentiment that no prophet
could come out of Galilee (John 7:52). Yet this is
where Jesus spent most of his ministry.
Samaria was slightly smaller than Galilee. The
city of Samaria was destroyed by the Assyrians in
722 B.c., and its inhabitants were deported. In
Jesus’ day, the population of Samaria, like that of
Galilee, consisted of a mixture of Israelites who
had managed somehow to escape deportation and
new immigrants of non-Israelite origin. The
Samaritans developed their own type of Yahweh
worship, based on the five books of Moses alone,
and built a temple on Mount Gerizim. (There are
still Samaritans today who celebrate the Passover
on Mount Gerizim, near the ruins of their temple.)
When the Jews returned under Ezra and
Nehemiah, the Samaritans wanted to take part in
the rebuilding of the temple, but were rebuffed.
Around that time a group of Jewish dissidents left
Jerusalem and went to live in Samaria. All this led
to a permanent religious and political rift between
Jews and Samaritans. Jews avoided traveling
through Samaria if at all possible, and it is easy to
underestimate how remarkable Jesus’ trip through
Samaria was (John 4:1-42) and how strong the
mixed emotions were that were generated by the
parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).
Judea was more or less the territory of the old
kingdom of Judah (Judea is the Latinized form of
Judah). It was approximately 55 by 55 miles,
although its boundaries were never precisely fixed.
After the death of Herod, his son Archelaus
became ruler, but was banished by the Romans,
who annexed Judea to the province of Syria. Judea
was under direct Roman control until a.d. 37,
when Herod Agrippa I became king of Judea.
The Decapolis (lit., “ten cities”) was a group
of 10 cities established by Greeks in the wake of
Alexander the Great’s conquest. They enjoyed
essential independence under Rome. Near Gadara,
one of the cities, Jesus allowed demons to enter a
herd of swine (Mark 5:1-20). Jesus became
popular in the Decapolis (Matthew 4:24-25; Mark
7:31-37).
Perea was the small territory east of the
Jordan River, opposite Samaria and Judea. Its
population was primarily Jewish. In the Gospels it
is never mentioned by name but is referred to as
the land “beyond the Jordan” (see Matthew 4:15,
25; 19:1; Mark 3:7-8). John baptized in Bethany
(KJ\( Bethabara) “on the other side of the Jordan”
(John 1:28). Jesus did much of His teaching in
Perea and made his final journey to Jerusalem from
there (John 10:40; 11:54).
2. The Diaspora, or Dispersion
Diaspora refers to the Jews living outside
Palestine while maintaining their religious faith.
The two deportations — first of the northern
kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 721 B.c,, and
then of the southern kingdom of Judah by the
Babylonians in 586 B.c. — had dispersed the Jews.
Many of those who had been taken to Babylon, and
their descendants, did not return to Jerusalem
under Ezra and Nehemiah but chose to stay.
Then Alexander the Great induced many Jews
to move to the newly established city of
Alexandria in Egypt, and from that time on many
thousands of Jews emigrated to neighboring
countries for the purpose of trade and commerce.
In New Testament times there were probably
several times more Jews living outside Palestine
than in it. Acts 2:5-12 shows the extent of the
Diaspora.
In the Old Testament, the temple was the focus
of the religious life of the Israelites. But after the
Babylonian exile, God-fearing Jews could move to
other places, far from Jerusalem, because of the
synagogue, which had come into prominence
during the Babylonian captivity (see Synagogues in
the chapter The 400 Years Between the
Testaments). Almost every city of any importance
in the Roman Empire had a Jewish colony, each
with its own synagogue. This was an important
factor in the spread of Christianity in the first
decades of the church, since Paul invariably went
to the synagogue in each city he visited and
preached there about Jesus.
(The Diaspora in the four centuries before
Christ was largely voluntary. But after Jerusalem
and the temple were destroyed by the Romans in
a.d. 70 and the Jews lost the right to Palestine, the
Diaspora became a forced way of life. The
establishment of the State of Israel in 1948
allowed many Jews to return, but the Diaspora
continues for the vast majority of Jews, albeit once
again voluntarily; see A Brief History of the Holy
Land and the Jews Since the Time of Christ .)
C. Religious Changes
Alexander the Great wanted to do more than
conquer the world — he wanted to spread Greek
language and culture everywhere. He succeeded,
even after his empire was divided and later
absorbed into the Roman Empire. The name for
this spread of Greek language, culture, and thought
is Hellenism (from Hellas, the Greek name for
Greece). The purpose of Hellenism was at least in
part political: by creating a single culture it would
be possible to govern an empire that consisted of
many and diverse nations and cultures.
Greek did indeed become more or less the
lingua franca of the civilized world. And Greek
culture — though mixed with local elements — gave
a coherence of thought and values that persisted
even after the Roman Empire swallowed up what
was left of Alexander the Great’s empire.
Hellenism was cosmopolitan in outlook. It
tried to minimize local, parochial viewpoints and
replace them with a cosmopolitan Hellenistic
perspective.
Part of the Jewish population (including many
of its leaders) endorsed Hellenism, while another
part (especially the common man) strongly resisted
it. (One reason behind the desecration of the
temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes [see above]
was that he got tired of the Jews’ insistence on
remaining different and staying outside the more
cosmopolitan culture, so he decided to force the
issue, greatly underestimating the depth of Jewish
convictions.) It was out of this struggle with
Hellenism, which was political as well as cultural
and religious, that the two main parties of the
Judaism of Jesus’ day emerged.
1. Religious Parties
The Pharisees
The two main parties within the Judaism of
Jesus’ day were the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
As Hellenism began to encroach on the religious
life of the Jews, the unavoidable question was how
the Law of God should be applied in the new
circumstances. The Pharisees took the Scriptures
and believed that it was their responsibility to
determine how the Law should be applied to new
conditions and how it should, if necessary, be
reinterpreted. This led to the prominence of the
teachers of the Law (or scribes, see Teachers of
the Law fScribesf in the chapter The 400 Years
Between the Testaments) during the time between
the Testaments. The Pharisees accepted both the
Torah (Law) and tradition (the applications of the
Law as taught by earlier teachers of the Law). The
Sadducees, by contrast, made no such effort. They
did not try to adapt God’s Law to the new situation
but limited themselves to the five books of Moses;
they did not even accept the authority of the
prophets and other Scriptures.
The Pharisees and Jesus often clashed — yet
they had much in common theologically, and Jesus
had many nonadversarial contacts with Pharisees
(Luke 7:36ff.; 11:37; 13:31-33; 14:1; Mark 12:28-
34; Matthew 23:1-2). At the same time, Jesus
rejected the validity of the oral laws of the
Pharisees (see “Teachers of the Law t Scribes)” in
the chapter The 400 Years Between the
Testaments) and also their emphasis on ritual
purity that made the Pharisees refuse any contact
with “sinners.” Jesus came with the invitation to
all people to enter the kingdom of God (including
the Pharisees), while the Pharisees in effect
disinvited all who did not live by the same
standards as they — which was most people. It was
especially this exclusivism that Jesus objected to
in the Pharisees; by using only standards of
external behavior to measure people’s relationship
with God, they failed to realize that it is what is
inside a person that counts, and that they therefore
needed God’s grace as much as the worst sinner.
And it was this external religion that made it very
difficult for them to believe in Jesus (who did not
do all the things the Pharisees felt a religious
person should do).
The Sadducees
The party of the Sadducees consisted of
wealthy priests and their friends in the aristocracy.
They were religiously conservative in that they
accepted the authority of the five books of Moses
but not of the prophets and other later writings.
Thus, when they question Jesus about the
resurrection (Matthew 22:23-33), Jesus uses a
quote from Exodus 3:6, since a quote from the
prophets would not have carried weight with them.
At the same time, they were the group who
wielded political power, which led them to
endorse — for pragmatic purposes — some aspects
of Hellenism. When Palestine became part of the
Roman Empire, the Sadducees collaborated with
the Romans and tried to maintain the status quo,
lest they lose their position of leadership.
The Sadducees had more power than the
Pharisees (although the common people sided with
the Pharisees) until a.d. 70. With the destruction of
the temple — the focus of their power — the
Sadducees simply ceased to have any role and
disappeared. The Pharisees, on the other hand,
became the true leaders of the Jewish people after
a.d. 70 by providing them with a religious life
apart from the temple. After the failed revolution
of Bar Kochba (a.d. 132-35; see The Second
Revolt in the chapter A Brief History of the Holy
Land and the Jews Since the Time of Christ) the
Romans recognized the Pharisees as the governing
body for Jewish life.
Other Parties
Two other parties are mentioned in the New
Testament, the Zealots and the Herodians. They
were more political than religious in nature.
Zealots: The Zealots were a nationalistic party
that fiercely opposed the Roman occupation. It is
not certain whether the Zealots were already a
party by the time of Jesus’ ministry or did not
become a party until later. One of Jesus’ disciples
was Simon the Zealot (Luke 6:15); if there was
already a party or group known as Zealots, Simon
may have belonged to them. If not, “Zealot” may be
a nickname based on his personality, similar to
Jesus’ calling John and James “Sons of Thunder.”
1 The Temple; 2 Western Wall (“Wailing Wall”); 3 Royal Stoa;
4 Solomon’s Colonnade; 5 Herodian Tower; 6 Antonia
Fortress; 7 Mount of Olives
Herodians: Nothing is known about the
Herodians except that, judging from their name,
they apparently supported the Herodian dynasty
and thus indirectly the rule of Rome. They joined
the Pharisees in their opposition to Jesus (Matthew
22: 16; Mark 3:6; 12:13).
2. Religious Functionaries
Teachers of the Law (Scribes)
In antiquity, scribes were a special class of
people who copied documents and recorded
information. They were governmental secretaries
and copyists who copied the Scriptures. As time
went on, they became more influential and took
leading roles in government.
When Judah was deported to Babylonia, the
people suddenly found themselves in entirely new
circumstances, and it was not always clear how the
Law of God applied to specific new situations.
This is when the scribes became interpreters and
teachers of the Law. They did now what before the
Exile the prophets had done: tell the people how to
live as God’s people. Ezra was a scribe as well as
a priest, and he took it upon himself to teach the
Law to the people who had returned from Babylon.
When during the Hellenistic period many of the
priests compromised the teachings of the Law by
embracing pagan ideas and customs, the scribes
became the defenders of the Law and the teachers
of the masses. They acted, in fact, like nobility (see
Matthew 23:5-7; Mark 12:38-39; Luke 11:43;
20:46).
The scribes, in their zeal to protect the Law,
actually added to its requirements — they “built a
fence around the Law” of detailed, specific
commandments that would keep the people from
coming even close to breaking the Law. Lor
example, the “Sabbath journey” — a specific
distance one was allowed to walk on the Sabbath
— was instituted to make sure that the people
would not break the commandment to rest on the
Sabbath. But as Jesus pointed out, they were so
anxious to keep the letter of the Law that they
failed to either understand or implement its spirit.
And Jesus refused to be bound by the scribal
additions to the Law, which earned Him their
enmity (Mark 12:40; John 20:47).
Priests
According to the Old Testament, all priests had
to be descendants of Aaron, Moses’ brother, from
the tribe of Levi. The priests were divided into 24
“courses” or groups, each one of which served in
the temple one week at a time, twice a year. Most
priests lived outside Jerusalem (for example,
Zechariah; Luke 1:8-9). The priests who lived in
Jerusalem and were connected full-time to the
temple were considered far more important than
the ordinary priests.
High Priest
The high priest was to be a direct descendant
of Aaron, the first high priest. It was a hereditary
office.
During the century of independence under the
Hasmoneans, the high priest was both the religious
and the political leader. This led in the end to
disaster, when the office became for all practical
purposes secular. During the Roman period, the
high priest was appointed much like other
government officials. From the time of Herod the
Great until the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70,
there were no fewer than 28 high priests!
Interestingly, it may be that the Jewish leaders
themselves continued to view a former high priest
as still having official standing, even though he had
been deposed, since according to the Law of
Moses, the high priest remained in office until his
death. When Jesus was arrested, He was first sent
to Annas (who had not been high priest for 15
years!) and only then to Caiaphas, who was the
high priest at that time. In Acts 4:6, Annas is called
the high priest, even though technically he no
longer was.
Chief Priests
It is not entirely certain who the chief priests
were. It is likely that they were past and present
high priests, or perhaps members of the high-
priestly families (see Acts 4:6). Or they may have
included the priests who formed the permanent
temple staff. In any event, they constituted a well-
defined group.
Rabbis
“Rabbi” means “my master,” “my lord.” It was
used as a general term of respect. John the
Baptist’s disciples referred to John as rabbi, and
Jesus was called rabbi by His disciples. John
explains the term “rabbi” as meaning teacher (John
1:38; 20:16). Jesus warns His disciples that they
should not be like the professional scribes in their
desire to be called rabbi (Matthew 23:2-12).
“Rabbi” did not become an official title until
much later. The professional, ordained, salaried
rabbi did not appear until the Middle Ages.
The Sanhedrin
During the reign of the Hellenistic kings (see
Four Centuries of Political Change in The 400
Years Between the Testaments), Palestine was
more or less self-governing. An aristocratic
council of elders was in charge, presided over by
the high priest. This group later developed into the
Sanhedrin, which consisted of elders, chief priests,
and teachers of the law.
During the Roman period, the internal
government of Palestine was largely in the hands
of the Sanhedrin, and its authority was even
recognized in the Diaspora (Acts 9:2; 22:5;
26:12).
It is probable that the authority of the Sanhedrin
was limited to Judea after the death of Herod the
Great, which was why the Sanhedrin could not
touch Jesus as long as He was in Galilee. The
Sanhedrin was abolished after the destruction of
Jerusalem in a.d. 70.
3. Religious Institutions
The Temple
The first “house of God” the Israelites built
was the tabernacle, a portable tent that could be
moved around during the wanderings in the
wilderness immediately after the Exodus (see the
article The Tabernacle Built in the chapter on
Exodus).
The first temple in Jerusalem was planned by
King David and built by his son. King Solomon,
around 950 B.c. When the Babylonians overran the
southern kingdom, Judah, in 586 B.c., they
destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and deported
the people to Babylonia. This was the beginning of
the Babylonian exile.
After King Cyrus allowed the people to return
to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel and Ezra, the first
thing they did was rebuild the temple. But the
second temple was relatively plain and far less
imposing than the first temple, which many of those
who returned had never seen, since they had been
born in Babylonia. Yet they had heard much about
it and had perhaps developed a somewhat
exaggerated idea of the first temple’s splendor.
When Herod the Great became king, one of the
things he did to win over the people was to expand
and beautify the temple. Since the temple stood on
the top of a hill, the only way to enlarge the temple
area was to build massive retaining walls and fill
the area inside the walls to create a great platform.
Herod doubled the size of the original platform of
Solomon’s temple. Part of the wall Herod built is
still visible and is known as the Wailing Wall; it
shows how remarkable and impressive the temple
must have been.
Herod died in 4 B.c,, almost 70 years before
the temple complex was completely finished (a.d.
64). Sadly, the finished temple stood for only six
years in all its splendor. In a.d. 66, the Jews
revolted against Rome, and four years later, in a.d.
70, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed.
Today the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim mosque,
stands where the temple once stood.
Just outside the temple area, at its northwest
corner, Herod the Great built a fortress and named
it the Antonia, after Mark Anthony (best known for
falling in love with Queen Cleopatra of Egypt).
The tower overlooked the temple and the temple
courts and was used by the Romans to keep an eye
out for disturbances in the temple area and the city.
The Antonia served its intended purpose when the
crowd got out of hand and was ready to kill Paul
(Acts 21:30ff.). There were two flights of stairs
that connected the fortress (called “the barracks”
in Acts 21:34) with the temple area; these are the
stairs the Roman commander and his troops ran
down, and from which Paul addressed the crowd.
Synagogues
In the New Testament we encounter synagogues
everywhere, both in Palestine and throughout the
Roman Empire. Wherever the apostle Paul went to
preach, he first went to the synagogue in that city.
The synagogue was “invented” during the
Babylonian exile. The temple in Jerusalem — the
central place of worship for all Jews — had been
destroyed. So wherever there was a group of Jews,
they would get together and read and study the
Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament). These
meetings then were formalized in the institution of
the synagogue.
Unlike the temple, where sacrifices were
central, in the synagogue the focus was on teaching.
Any male present could be asked to read from the
Scriptures — first from the Pentateuch and then from
the Prophets — and any male present could be
asked to preach. This is why Jesus could preach in
the synagogue (Luke 4:16-30), and later Paul also
(for example, Acts 13: 15fif).
Christian worship (as well as Muslim
worship) is patterned after the model of the
synagogue.
No synagogues have been found that date back to the days of
Jesus, although the Gospels and Acts indicate that there must
have been one in every significant town. These remains are
from the 3rd-century synagogue at Capernaum.
D. Languages and Writings in
the New Testament Era
1. Languages
Aramaic replaced Hebrew as the common
language in Palestine after the Babylonian exile. It
is a Semitic language related to Hebrew, yet
different enough that it could not be readily
understood by the average person in Old Testament
times (see 2 Kings 18:26; also Genesis 31:47,
where Laban uses Aramaic and Jacob uses
Hebrew). Aramaic was the language of commerce
and diplomacy during the centuries before
Alexander the Great. This is why in the book of
Ezra we find several official documents in
Aramaic rather than in Hebrew (Ezra 4:8-6:18 and
7:12-26; Ezra wrote the connecting verses
between the documents also in Aramaic).
Hebrew is the language of the Old Testament.
But by the time of the New Testament, Hebrew had
become mainly the language of religion, since the
Hebrew Bible was written in Hebrew. Many
people could still read and write Hebrew, but it
was no longer their everyday language.
Latin was the language of Rome, but while it
was the language of imperial officialdom, it was
not the language commonly spoken throughout the
empire.
Greek was the common language or lingua
franca that tied the Roman Empire together. Its
role was similar to that of English in the modern
world. Alexander the Great had succeeded in
making the Greek language, and to a large extent
Greek culture, dominant throughout his empire (see
The Diaspora, or Dispersion in the chapter The
400 Years Between the Testaments), and he
succeeded so well that Greek as the common
language outlasted his empire by several centuries.
It is safe to assume that Jesus could read and
perhaps speak Hebrew (Luke 4:17) but that He
usually spoke Aramaic. (His command when
raising Jairus’s daughter was Talitha Koum, which
is Aramaic for “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”)
He probably also spoke at least some Greek,
although there is no proof of this.
The apostles wrote in Greek, although some of
their letters are clearly written by people who did
not have a native command of the language. There
are also “Semiticisms” in the New Testament —
expressions that are Semitic (Hebrew or Aramaic)
in form and would have sounded odd to a native
Greek speaker. (A modern equivalent would be “I
make the door closed” — a Germanism for “I close
the door.”)
It is thought that Matthew may have first
written his Gospel in Aramaic and later translated
it into Greek.
2. Writings
The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, but the
people spoke mostly Aramaic or Greek. In fact, in
cities such as Alexandria in Egypt there were many
Jews whose families had lived there for many
generations and who spoke only Greek. If Judaism
was to survive, it was necessary for people to be
able to read and understand the Old Testament. To
this end, translations were made and used in Jesus’
day: the Septuagint for Greek-speaking Jews and
the Targums for Aramaic-speaking Jews.
The Septuagint
The Septuagint is a translation of the Hebrew
Old Testament into Greek, made in Alexandria.
According to tradition, 70 Jews, skillful linguists,
were sent from Jerusalem to Egypt at the request of
Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B.c.) and
completed the translation in 70 days.
In reality, the translation was done over a
period of time. The Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy)
was translated first, and later the rest of the Old
Testament books were added. It was called the
Septuagint because of the 70 translators who were
reputed to have begun it {septuaginta = Greek for
70; the common abbreviation for Septuagint is
LXX, the Roman numeral for 70). The quality of
the translation of the Torah (Pentateuch) is
excellent, but the other books vary a great deal in
quality.
The Septuagint was in common use in the days
of Christ. Many of the quotations from the Old
Testament in the New Testament (which was
written in Greek) are from the Septuagint.
The Targums
The Targums are translations of the Hebrew
Old Testament books into Aramaic. They were
originally oral translations, paraphrases, and
interpretations that had their origin in the
Babylonian captivity, when Hebrew lost its
standing as the primary language of the Jewish
exiles and was replaced by Aramaic. These oral
paraphrases were later written down and became
increasingly necessary as the use of Aramaic
became prevalent in Palestine. In the synagogue, a
passage would often be read in Hebrew, followed
by the Targum of that same passage.
he New Testament
The Life of Jesus: An
Overview
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John did not simply
write about what happened in the past. They wrote
from the perspective of the Resurrection and the
coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The did not
write a story that had an ending, but a story that
was a beginning — the beginning of the church and
the beginning of the coming of the kingdom of God.
They arranged their material in slightly
different ways because they each had a somewhat
different audience and purpose (see Why Are
There Four Gospels? in the chapter The Four
Gospels: Matthew- John). Sometimes the Gospel
writers indicate that certain stories happened one
after the other, at other times they put together a
number of stories and events because they have a
similar theme, without any indication that they
happened in that particular sequence. Besides,
during the two years or more that the disciples
spent with Jesus, He must have taught and
preached similar messages many times, and He
must have performed similar miracles many times
— many lame people were healed, many blind
people could see again, and so forth.
All this means that it is not easy to fit all the
materials in the Gospels neatly into a single
narrative. But the broad outlines are clear.
The Eight Periods of Jesus’ Life
For convenience’ sake, the life of Jesus can be
divided into eight periods, as follows:
1 . Birth and Youth
Approx. Duration: 30 years
Location(s): Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth
2. Preparation for Mi nistry
Location(s): Jordan River and wilderness
3. Early Mi nistry in Judea
Approx. Duration: 8 months
Location(s): Judea, Samaria
4. Mi nistry in Galilee
Approx. Duration: 2 years
Location(s): Galilee
5. Later Ministry in Judea
Approx. Duration: 1 month
Location(s): Perea and Judea
6. Mi nistry in Perea
Approx. Duration: 4 months
Location(s): Perea and Judea
7. The Last Week: Crucifixion and
Resurrection
Approx. Duration: 7 days
Location(s): Judea, Jerusalem
8 . Appearances after the Resurrection
Approx. Duration: 40 days
Location(s): Jerusalem, Galilee
All four Gospels give more space to the last
week of Jesus’ life, His crucifixion, and His
resurrection (Period 7) than to any other period.
The chart below shows the difference in the
Gospels in the amount of space they devote to
some of the other periods.
We will look at each of the eight periods
briefly. For a detailed outline (“harmony”) of the
Gospels, see A Harmony of the Gospels in The
Four Gospels: Matthew-John.
THE LIFE OF JESUS IN THE
FOUR GOSPELS
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Pre-Incarnation Existence
of Jesus
Jesus' Birth and Youth
1:1-3
..
1-2
1-2
Preparation for Ministry
John the Baptist
3:1-12
1:1-8
3:1-20
1:6-42
Jesus' Baptism
3:13-17
1:9-11
3:21-22
Jesus' Temptation
4:1-11
1:12-13
4:1-13
Preliminary Miracle
2:1-11
R
Early Judean Ministry
(about 8 months)
113-4:3
Visit to Samaria
4:4-42
0
Galilean Ministry
(about 2 years)
4:12-19:1
1:14-10:1
4:14-9:51
4:43-54:6
Visit to Jerusalem
5:1-47
Later Judean Ministry
(about 1 month)
10:1-13:21
7:2-10:39
±
Perean Ministry
(about 4 months)
19:1-20:34
10:1-52
13:22-19:28
10:40-11:57
The Last Week
21-27
11-15
19:29-24:1
12-19
Post-Resurrection
Appearances
28
16
24
20-21
Period 1: Jesus’ Birth and Youth
(About 30 Years)
• Matthew 1-2
• Luke 1-2
Mark and John say nothing about the birth,
childhood, and youth of Jesus. Matthew and Luke
record different incidents (see under Luke 1:5-80).
To harmonize these into exact chronological
sequence is not easy. Here are probable,
approximate dates:
7 or 6 B.c.
Announcement to Zechariah Luke 1:5-25
6 months later
Announcement to Mary Luke 1:26-38
Mary’s visit to Elizabeth Luke 1:39-56
3 months later
Mary’s return to Nazareth Luke 1:56
Announcement to Joseph Matthew 1:18-24
Birth of John the Baptist Luke 1:57-80
6 or 5 B.c.
Birth of Jesus Matthew 1 :25; Luke 2: 1-7
Announcement to shepherds Luke 2:8-20
8 days later
Jesus’ circumcision Luke 2:21
32 days later
Jesus’ presentation Luke 2:22-38
4 B.C.
Visit of the Wise Men Matthew 2:1-12
Flight to Egypt Matthew 2:13-15
The children of Bethlehem killed Matthew
2:16-18
3 B.C.
Return to Nazareth Matthew 2:19-23; Luke
2:39
On What Date Was Jesus Born?
Jesus’ birthday is now celebrated on December 25,
but there is nothing in the Bible to support that
particular date. It first appears as the date of Jesus’
birthday in the 4th century, in the Western church.
In the Eastern church the date is January 6, which
is celebrated as Epiphany in the Western church.
(On the division of the church into a Western
church and an Eastern church, see The Split
Between East and West in the chapter A Brief
History of the Western Church.)
How Could Jesus Have Been
Born Five or Six Years
“Before Christ”?
Placing Jesus’ birth several years b.c., “Before
Christ,” is not the result of critical scholarship
trying to undermine the reliability of the Bible.
Rather, it is the result of a mathematical error
made by a monk some 1,500 years ago.
Jesus was born when the Jewish nation was
part of the Roman Empire, and in the empire,
years were counted from the founding of the
city of Rome. But when the Roman Empire fell
and Christianity became the universal religion
in what had once been the Roman Empire, a
monk named Dionysius Exiguus, at the
request of Emperor Justinian, made a new
calendar in ad. 526. This calendar was to
replace the Roman calendar, and it counted
years from the birth of Christ.
The new calendar divided history into the
years before Christ (b.c.) and after the birth of
Christ (a.d., which stands for Anno Domini, “in
the year of [our] Lord”).
However, long after the Christian calendar
had replaced the Roman calendar, it was
discovered that Dionysius had made a
mistake. He had placed the birth of Jesus in
753 AUC (Ab Urbe Condita, “From the
founding of the city [of Rome]”). He should
have placed it a few years earlier, in about
749 or even 747 AUC.
The Journey to Bethlehem. Egypt, and Nazareth
Mediterranean Sea
December 25 as the date to celebrate the birth
of Jesus goes back to at least the 4th century,
although the reasons for the choice of this date are
obscure. In some countries (such as Britain),
Christmas replaced an existing, pre-Christian
festival.
Period 2: Preparation for
Ministry
John the Baptist; Jesus’ Baptism and
Temptation
• Matthew 3: 1-4: 11
• Mark 1:1—13
• Luke 3: 1-4: 13
• John 1:6-42
Jesus' Baptism and Temptation
This is a brief but important period in Jesus’
life. John the Baptist was the one who prepared the
way for the expected Messiah, as foretold by the
prophet Isaiah. He set the stage for Jesus’ ministry
by preaching the need for repentance in the face of
the coming of the kingdom of God. He helped focus
the expectation of the nation so that when Jesus
began His ministry, the people were prepared.
Early Judean Ministry
S'
Capernaum
^ O
▲
Mt. Carmel
Nazareth A
Mt Tabor
SAMARIA
Samaria • I
Jacob's VMt \
Mt Gerizim
• Bethany?
0 10 20 30 40 miles *
20 40 GO kikirTMMn
Jesus insisted on being baptized by John — He
gave His endorsement to John’s ministry, and God
in turn gave Jesus His endorsement: “This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”
(Matthew 3:17).
Jesus then went into the wilderness for 40 days
and was tempted by Satan three times — and each
time Jesus appealed to God’s Word: “It is written”
(Matthew 4:4, 6, 10; Luke 4:4, 8, 10).
John’s Gospel does not mention Jesus’ baptism
and temptation.
Period 3: Jesus’ Early Ministry
in Judea (About 8 Months)
• John 2: 1-4:42
This period, which probably lasted about eight
months, is recorded only in the gospel of John
(2:1-4:42). The period in Judea is preceded by a
miracle in Cana, in Galilee, where Jesus turned
water into wine, and it concludes with Jesus’ visit
with the Samaritan woman. Jesus’ nighttime visit
with Nicodemus, in which He explains the need to
be born again, also takes place dur